Young Justice Re-Imagined: Impulse Rises
by I'maChair5050
Summary: Reimagining of Young Justice. After a strange accident at his father's lab, a young comic nerd is left with powers he's only ever dreamed of. However, donning the colours of his favourite speedster, he finds that something is up, as a mysterious criminal enterprise is hell bent on taking the city by force. And that's before the arrival of a certain green clad heroine. AU
1. Making a Splash

**Chapter 1: Making a Splash**

(Impulse P.O.V)

You know, life can be a crazy thing once you really stop to think about it. If you ever stop and look around, things are being created and destroyed every second. Every time I think about these things, I can't help but ask myself: why do we create things? What's more, how do we create things?

Obviously, a religious man would say that God/Allah/Chuck Norris/The Flying Spaghetti Monster created all life and matter. Ask a scientist and they'll probably say that certain scientific reactions, with the help of their counterparts helped to create the world in this way.

Any other person would probably say one or the other.

I, however, would say something completely different. To me, if you wish for something to be real and imbue it with a soul and personality, it will be real.

As for why, I'd say this: because we can.

For me, this would definitely how I viewed my life of loving comic books. Whenever I felt like it, I would just whip one out of my huge collection and read it for hours on end. Pretty much all of there are superhero based.

And yet, every time I would read one, I would always feel a sense of longing. Longing that this was all real. Longing that I could meet my heroes. Longing I could be a hero.

Let's just say that I got my wish granted.

Now, let me introduce myself.

I am Jacob Laverne.

I am this world's version of Impulse.

This is how I came to be...

* * *

><p>(Normal P.O.V)<p>

_First day of the autumn semester_

_Chicago_

It was the middle of a Monday afternoon. Traffic was usually quiet at this time, as most people were still at work at this time.

Outside the front gate of the St. Augustus High School, parents were waiting in their cars to pick up their kids.

Then, the final bell went for the day.

It was only a couple of seconds before Jacob Laverne came bolting out of the front doors, short dark hair blowing in the wind.

Spotting the dark red Citroen of his older sister, Natalie, he dashed up to it, opened the door and leapt in, shutting the door and pulling on his seatbelt.

"Thanks for waiting for me" Jacob said to his sister as they left the school site.

"Don't mention it, Jack" she replied. "My college classes were cancelled due to a water leak, so I decided to head home. Which I was going to do until I got a call from dad. He's apparently ready to test out the experiment he and his team have been working on at the lab and was wondering if the two of us were hoping to see its test run".

"Dude, miss out possibly one of the greatest scientific inventions of our generation?! Not on your life".

"I thought you'd say that".

What they were indeed talking about was the super secret work of their father, a scientist by the name of Derek Laverne.

However, despite his best attempts to keep his work secret, Jacob and Natalie quickly managed to deduce the kind of work he specialised in: pushing-the-envelope type work. Broadening horizons and understanding what was truly possibly.

He'd worked on many different projects in the past, but this one was one that seriously interested the two kids: Teleportation.

It seemed like a long drive, but the two soon arrived at the Ugotech laboratory, just outside the city.

At the front door, a tall male figure in a white lab coat was waiting for them.

This was Derek Laverne.

"Hey, glad you could make it, you two" he happily said to them, embracing his offspring. "How was the first day back at school, Jacob?"

Jacob shuddered. "The less I talk about it, the better".

Derek chuckled.

"I know what that feels like. Anyway, the test run is about to start in a few minutes, so we'd best head inside".

The group of three headed off into the lab.

As they headed towards the main testing room for the experiment, the two kids often found themselves looking around at many other strange experiments going on.

Finally, they arrived at a large, round room, protected by a thick glass shield.

Inside were all sorts of strange electrical equipment, hooked up to what looked like two large hoops.

"I take it those are the teleportation gateways you have been working on".

"Exactly".

Derek then handed his two kids safety goggles.

"Now remember, we don't properly know what will happen with this thing, so please remember to keep these on until the test is finished. Also, remember to stay out here and also..."

He pointed towards a large, locked door behind them.

"Don't try and go in there. There's all sorts of chemicals and substances in there".

"Good luck dad" Natalie said to her father as he put his own goggles on and stepped through a small door into the chamber, shutting it behind him.

"Alright then, start up the generator" he said to his colleagues.

As one of the scientists pressed a button on a small computer in the corner, the whole room filled with a low humming noise.

"Stabiliers are working at full capacity. Hydraulics are good. Sue, ready the testing drone"

One of the female scientists placed a small remote controlled testing drone on wheels in front of the portal.

Just then, the first archway began to course with electricity.

"Go for it"

The female scientist then drove the testing drone into the first archway.

As it reached the archway, it disappeared in as flash of electricity.

Everyone then eagerly watched the second archway, waiting for the drone to reappear.

However, for a short while nothing happened.

However, as the seconds ticked on, something happened that would change Jacob's life forever.

Suddenly, as they watched and waited, the second archway began to spark.

As the scientists scurried to sort the problem out, it unleashed a large bolt of electricity at the glass, breaking through and striking Jacob.

The force of lightning was so strong, it sent the boy flying backwards, crashing through the doors of the storage cupboard and flying onwards until he hit a wall of shelves, each one lined with chemicals.

As he fell to the floor, he found himself doused with hundreds of strange concoctions.

As he blacked out, he heard the sound of people rushing into the room.

* * *

><p>Jacob felt like he'd been hit by a train.<p>

As he slowly regained his consciousness, he found many pairs of eyes staring down at him.

"Jacob! Thank god you're alright!" Exclaimed his father as he hugged him tightly.

"Dad, what happened? The last thing I remember is your experiment going wrong, it sending me flying backwards and that's it".

"I'm not sure what happened, but something went wrong on the machine, causing it to unleash a large bolt of electricity at you. That then launched you back into the storage cupboard, where you hit a few boxes and ended up getting doused in chemicals"

Jacob was shocked at this.

"WHAT?! How the hell am I still alive?"

"I don't know, but it's lucky you are".

Jacob then realised something about his current situation.

He was lying in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a whole group of older people.

And he was naked.

"Oh yes, about that. Your clothes were soaked through as well, so we're cleaning them out until there's no chemical residue left"

He handed Jacob his lab coat as the teenager desperately tried to cover his man parts.

"Will anything bad happen to me?" he asked, worriedly.

"Well, nothing that we know off, but we'll need to run a few tests to see if anything will happen. Mainly aerobic tests".

Jacob groaned.

"Not more of those. I had gym class today! Ugh! So moded!"

However, he decided the best thing to do was to just quit whining and just get on with it.

The first test the scientists performed on him was a simple scan of brain and body functions.

For the most part, everything seemed to be normal. However, as they were about to move on to the next test, one of the doctors called his father over to the computer screen.

Much to their surprise, his registered nerve signals were travelling much faster than those of an average human.

As they studied this, Jacob realised something else about the accident.

It almost mirrored the same kind of accident Barry Allen had before he became The Flash.

"Is it really possible?" He thought to himself.

He shrugged this off, thinking this to be just a mere coincidence.

However, the following test was a simple running test on a tread mill.

The scientists attached a few sensor nodes to him, gave him a spare pair of pants and set him off on the treadmill.

Firstly, at a leisurely walk.

"Feel any different?"

"Nope. Pretty much the same".

The treadmill slowly picked up the pace, causing Jacob to break into a light jog.

Nothing was feeling different.

However, as he broke into a run, he noticed something was different.

At this point, he would usually be feeling fairly warn out.

This time, however, this wasn't the case.

He felt absolutely fine.

He jammed his finger onto the speed button, causing the treadmill to go even faster.

Then, when Jacob reached sprinting speed, he still felt fine.

He wasn't out of breath and he was barely sweating.

As he slowed the treadmill down to a stop, the group couldn't believe what they were witnessing: a teenage male had just been zapped by electricity and doused in chemicals, yet this had allowed his to run as fast as the treadmill would allow without being out of breath.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Natalie asked him.

"Yeah. I'm feeling fine. In fact, I'm actually feeling better than when I got here".

Derek turned to his colleagues.

"I think it would be best if I got my son back home. We don't want to risk any more accidents happening to him".

He then turned back to Jacob.

"Jacob, if anything happens to you when we're back home, you let me know immediately".

"Will do".

* * *

><p>Once the three arrived home, it seemed almost as if nothing had happened.<p>

Dad was in his office, working on more scientific studies, Natalie went back to her college campus to do her studies.

However, for Jacob, things were a little different.

As he sat at the end of his bed, reading his copy of The Flash Rebirth #1, he couldn't help but reflect on the events that had happened to him.

For most of the day, it had been a typical "first day of the school year" scenario. Get settled in, meet the new teachers, put up with crap from any morons in class, the usual.

However, just a few hours ago, he'd just been involved in a Barry Allen-esque accident that appeared to have improved his fitness considerably.

"Could it really be possible?" he thought to himself. "All this time, I've wished that heroes like this were real, but am I turning into one? A speedster at that?"

He closed his comic and looked over at his bedside table. On it, in a small frame, was a picture of him and a friend of his at Comic Con a few years ago.

Alas, that friend of his had moved away earlier this year.

As long as they'd known each other, they'd both been into comics. In fact, it was his friend that got Jacob into comics in the first place. After that, they'd regularly gone to Comic Con, dressed as different characters each time. In the picture in the frame, the two were dressed as their favourite DC sidekicks: Robin and Impulse (Jacob).

Jacob then thought of something.

Getting off his bed, he went over to his wardrobe, opened it and began rummaging around, eventually producing a box.

Within this box was his Impulse Costume.

This wasn't just a cheap version you could buy at a costume shop, this was a custom made version, made to fit Jacob's physical profile, complete with gloves, boots and goggles.

The main difference between this one and the original costume was that his gloves had actual fingers to them.

"Well, here goes nothing" he thought to himself as he lifted the costume out of the box.

He began to slowly move his hand towards the costume, shaking it as he went.

However, his shaking hand slowly became faster and faster.

Then, finally, his vibrating hand slowly slipped through the fabric and into the costume.

As an insanely happy smile appeared on Jacob's face, his whole body began to vibrate uncontrollably.

Finally, he passed himself through the fabric and into the suit itself before calming himself down, stopping his body from vibrating any further.

He then went over and looked at himself in the mirror.

He nearly screamed with joy.

He had managed to get himself into his Impulse Costume without even touching a zipper.

And it still fit like a glove.

"Well, there's only one thing left to find out" he said to himself.

He dashed out of his room, down the stairs and out into the garden.

The garden wasn't that big, but it was still fairly wide, giving him plenty of room.

As Jacob examined the garden, he took a deep breath before sprinting off towards the end of the garden and doing a complete lap.

His first lap of the was only done at his usual sprinting pace at first. However, lap after lap, he slowly found himself building up speed.

Slowly, the teenager began to disappear in a blue of red and white.

Hearing all the commotion coming from outside, Jacob's father came out the back door.

"What on Earth is..." he began.

However, his jaw dropped at the sight in front of him: his own son was dashing around the garden in a blur of red and white.

As he ran, a tear of happiness fell from Jacob's eyes.

He'd done it. He was finally a superhero.

He ended his running by screeching to a halt in front of his father.

For a short moment, there was silence between the two.

Then, the two hugged each other tightly, laughing and cheering.

"I don't believe this" His father said happily to Jacob. "My own son is a superhuman".

"I know! This is all so crash!"

They broke the hug, sharing a high five.

"God, imagine what I could do wish these powers!"

"I know, and that actually kind of worries me".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what happens if you use your powers for evil, like the villains in your comic books. The main difference is that there's always someone to stop them in the comics. In this case, however, you are wholly unique. If you went rogue, there would be no one capable of stopping you".

His dad placed both hands on his son's shoulders.

"Jacob, whatever happens, I want you to promise me something. Promise me that no matter what happens, you will always use your powers for good".

"I promise. In fact, that's what I was planning to go off and do now".

"Well, in that case, remember to take your mobile with you".

"Will do".

"Oh, and Jacob, please be careful".

"Always".

Quickly, Jacob dashed up to his room and grabbed his phone before dashing back down to the garden.

"Take care, Impulse"

Jacob grinned at this, nodding.

He then checked his goggles, slid his phone into one of his pockets and went dashing off over the back fence and into the city.

* * *

><p>As Jacob ventured into the city, he realised just how big it really was.<p>

That being said, he'd always known it to be big, but he'd never realised how big until he began his patrol.

Deciding to stay out of the light, he found himself running across the rooftops, giving short bursts of speed to allow him to jump any gaps.

Jacob was still struggling to believe that he was finally able to patrol the city as a superhero persona, protecting the citizens from the local scumbags.

There was only one thing left to do: find something happening.

Impulse didn't really expect much to be happening, as it was a monday night after school.

Yet Impulse knew there would probably be something happening, seeing as the was one of the most well known cities in the Midwest.

"I'd better just keep running around until something shows up" Impulse said to himself before taking off again.

However, much to his disappointment, Impulse struggled to find anything of note.

No fights, No robberies, nothing.

He did see someone trying to break into a car and was about to jump down there and stop him until he saw a police car come round the corner and start blaring its sirens, so he didn't.

"Ugh! This is so moded! There has to be something going on in this city" Impulse said to himself, desperately looking for action.

Impulse soon got his wish, as not too far off came the faint sounds of a vehicle crashing through something, followed by a few gunshots.

"Oh finally!" he said to himself, spinning round and dashing towards the noise.

As he eventually reached the scene from whence the noise came, he discovered what was happening.

Just across the road, directly opposite where Impulse was standing, was the reserve bank of Chicago.

The main difference here, though, was that the front doors had been completely broken by a large white van.

Impulse rushed over to the other side of the street and peered in through one of the upper windows.

Inside were four men, all armed with shotguns and wearing masks over their faces.

Three of them were holding the staff hostage whilst the fourth was trying to break into the vault behind the counters.

"Time to put these losers down" Impulse muttered to himself.

As he moved into position, the fourth guy managed to open the vault, revealing whole stacks of cash.

"WOO HOO!" He yelled out happily. "Guys, lets get the truck loaded up, for we are in the-"

"In the money? Wow. That is just so clichéd" Came a voice from the entrance.

Everyone looked at the entrance.

Impulse stood before them.

"Hi" He said to them, giving them a cheeky wave.

The four men didn't waste any time in raising their guns and firing at the young speedster.

However, anticipating this, Impulse simply zipped out of the way.

Deciding to end things quickly before one of the hostages ended up with a face full of shotgun shells, he aimed for the guy standing next to the safe, leaping over the counter and knocking into him, causing the man to bash his head against the steel, rendering him unconscious.

Turning his attention to the other three, Impulse went rushing towards them before dropping into a slide, knocking one over.

Leaping back up, he was able to land a successful quintuple charley horse, sending intense pain through his leg, making him unable to move.

Finally, he leaping up at the final remaining guy, knocking him over before landing a rock hard punch right between his eyes, rendering him unconscious as well.

"Damn it! I punched him wrong" Impulse said to himself as he picked himself up, checking his sore hand.

However, as he did so, he was suddenly engulfed by a massive hug from a female clerk, who had been held hostage.

"Thank you. Thank you!" She sobbed happily.

"Hey, don't mention it" Impulse said to her. "You guys are safe, nothing's been nabbed, those crooks are probably going away for a long time. It's all crash".

Just then, he heard the sound of police sirens getting closer.

"Well, that's my cue to get out of here. Gotta run!" He said to the hostages as he was just about to bolt out of there.

"Wait! Before you go..." the clerk said to him.

"What is it?"

"All that speed. None of us have ever seen anything like that on a person. Who...What are you?"

Jacob smirked before simply replying

"Call me Impulse".

With that, he dashed out of the bank just as the police arrived on the scene, running up one of the buildings and jumping across the rooftops, back towards his home.

"And with that, the first chapter in "The Man, the Myth, the Legend: Impulse" Jacob said happily to himself as he headed for the hills, grinning all the way.


	2. Impulse Scores Big

**Chapter 2: Impulse Scores Big**

As Jacob awoke the following morning, he discovered another perk of becoming a speedster: he didn't wake up tired in the morning.

Normally, he would find getting up in the morning, with his brain still asleep, especially on school mornings.

This time, however, he woke up bright eyed and cheerful.

He quickly changed into his clothes for the day before dashing downstairs to get his breakfast.

At the table, his dad was waiting for him.

"Ah, good morning, Jacob" he said happily, giving his son a hug. "So, how's my young speedster doing today?"

"I'm doing great, dad. I've just discovered another perk of being a speedster: not being tired in the morning".

"Well, that's good to hear. Perhaps now you won't be so grumpy before going off to school".

Jacob then got his breakfast and sat at the table before ploughing through his bowl of cereal in a matter of seconds.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered something" his dad said to him.

He placed the morning newspaper in front of him.

As Jacob looked up at the headline, he couldn't help but smile.

_**Mysterious speedster foils bank robbery**_

Jacob picked up the newspaper and began to breeze through it.

_4 men have been apprehended by an unknown "speedster" during an attempted bank robbery last night._

_Late last night, four men, each armed with shotguns, drove their van through the front doors of the Federal Reserve Bank and began to hold the bank clerks hostage, where they then proceeded to begin breaking into the vault._

_However, their heist was interrupted by the arrival of a "red-and-white clad speedy superhero", as one of the hostages put it._

_The "Superhero" then proceeded to take the four men down in "a matter of seconds", knocking three out and incapacitating the fourth one._

_The "superhero" then left the scene just before police could arrive._

_When asked by one of the hostages about who they were, the "superhero" simply referred to himself as "Impulse"._

_"I don't know who or what they are, or where they came from, but Impulse saved our lives, so we can definitely be thankful for that" another hostage said about the hero._

_The group of hostages have managed to describe "Impulse" as "young, medium height, thin, dark haired and blistering fast on their feet"._

_According to an unnamed police expert, this description matched that of the DC character by the same name, who was famously one of the sidekicks of "The Flash" one of the original seven of a superhero team called "The Justice League"._

_In the DC mythology, the secret identity of Impulse has often been Bart Allen, grandson of Barry Allen (the second Flash). However, the likelihood of our "Impulse" being the same Bart Allen is nonexistent. So with all these things taken into account, there is one question left on everyone's lips: Just who is Impulse?_

Underneath the text was an artist's depiction of Impulse with the caption: _Impulse- Fact of Fiction? _To be perfectly honest, most artist depictions of people looked like a mugshot of sorts. This one, however, looked like a full blown picture in a comic.

Jacob couldn't help but smile at this. He was already starting to become known.

However, he then realised something.

"Wait, dad. What about the guys at the lab? They were there when the accident happened and saw the tests I went through".

"Don't worry about that. Everyone in my lab is sworn to an oath of secrecy. Nothing gets out unless I approve it, so you don't need to worry about them"

"Great. Thanks".

* * *

><p>At Saint Augustus High, people had a tendency to gossip. When something happened, a few groups of people would talk about it. When something big happened, a lot of people were talking about it.<p>

Today, however, everyone was talking about one thing.

"Did you see the news report?"

"Weird, huh?"

"I know right?"

"There's no way its possible"

"Maybe they're bluffing".

"Perhaps Impulse is real"

"They sound dangerous"

"Well, Impulse seems friendly"

Jacob chuckled to himself as he walked through the front doors, ready to begin his second day of the school year. Whilst knowing there was a small risk of being discovered, he'd decided to keep his Impulse costume hidden deep within his huge backpack, so he could respond to sudden events if need be.

But firstly, he needed to head to his locker to get his gear.

However, heading towards his locker, he grinned at the sight before him.

His two friends, James Wilson and Stuart Thorpe were waiting for him.

The three then met next to Jacob's locker.

For a short moment, there was silence. Then, huge smiles began to appear on their faces.

"Did you see-"

"Yes"

"Like it?"

"Like it?! Dude, this is the greatest thing ever!"

"I know, right?"

"Right!"

The group shared a laugh, giving each other a high five.

"I never thought I'd see the day" Stuart said to the others. "Superheroes. And in own home city, none the less"

"Oh, I just remembered something" Jacob said to the others, pulling the newspaper out of his bag and showing it to the others.

"Check out that picture". James said to the others, in awe.

"Cool or what?"

"If only he was here right now. I'd ask for his autograph"

"What are you losers drooling over this time" came a harsh voice.

The three nerds rolled their eyes.

Duncan Smith wasn't the type of person they wanted to hang around with. In fact, he was the type of person that just annoyed them.

There were many things they hated about him: his stupid jock football shirt, his ridiculously white teeth, the way he talked to girls, his egotistical attitude, the fact that he picked on nerds even though he himself was technically a nerd. Essentially, Duncan was your typical high school Jock/bully in the senior year.

But what they hated most about him was the fact that he was incredibly popular.

He tore the newspaper out of Jacob's hands and looked at it.

"Oh please. Don't tell me you nothings are fantasizing about your gay men in spandex again. God, just get a life, already"

He then chucked the newspaper into a nearby bin and swaggered off, leaving the three nerds seething.

"God, I hate that imbecile" Stuart muttered.

"Impulse would probably hate him too".

"Don't worry, you guys. He'll get what's coming to him eventually".

* * *

><p><em>Four Days Later<em>

As the days had gone by, Jacob had been able to easily balance his time as a civilian and his time as Impulse.

What's more, as he'd done what he'd done, he'd slowly developed a fan following.

He'd found multiple small blogs about Impulse on the internet, most of them reckoning that Impulse was either A: Real, B: Friendly or C: Both.

As for his night time patrols, he'd found himself slowly managing to improve his fighting style. In fact, the night before, he'd been able to knock out a mugger with one precise roundhouse kick to the face.

His father had also been able to help out whenever possible, modifying his suit with a thermal imager and a holographic geiger counter in his goggles.

Jacob had originally asked why he'd fitted a Geiger counter, but his father simply replied "just in case".

Now, the increased following behind Impulse hadn't been completely hater free. A number of cops in the police force had taken a real dislike to Impulse, claiming that if he was real, he was nothing more than a freak of nature who deserved to be sent off to hell.

But they were probably just jealous that he was doing their job better than they were.

In fact, things had gotten so big that now, the mayor was going to give a press conference on Impulse, due to be broadcast live on TV as well.

Now, it was no small secret that the mayor didn't think that Impulse was real. The man was a devout christian, who was unable to suspend his disbelief at anything. If something "strange" happened, he would often be one of the first to shoot any thinking that it was real out of the sky.

As Impulse looked out over City Hall, he glanced at his watch

8:50pm.

The mayor's press conference was at 9:00pm

"I'd better continue patrolling" Impulse said to himself. "It'll kill time whilst I wait. Perhaps I'll look at the industrial district again".

Impulse then dashed off towards the Industrial District, looking for trouble.

Thankfully for him, however, when he reached the district, he soon found it.

Looking over towards an old warehouse, he spotted five suspicious looking guys, dressed in black and all brandishing guns.

They were standing around a large, unmarked shipping container.

"So, where's this going again?" One of them asked.

"Hell, I don't know" Another replied. "We just need to wait until the boss gets here".

"Okay. But still, don't you think this is a bit much? I know he wants to be able to run things in this city, but isn't this taking it a bit far?"

"Maybe. I don't care, though. All I care about is getting paid".

Impulse switched on his thermal imager, trying to identify what was inside the container.

Unfortunately, however, he couldn't see anything. All he could see was one large cold spot.

"Well, whatever's in there can't be any good". He said to himself.

He went over to a hole in the roof of the warehouse, looking down on the five guys before jumping over the edge before landing on one of the five, breaking multiple bones and rendering him unconscious.

Impulse, however, was absolutely fine.

His sudden arrival had caught the other four off guard.

"Wh-What the hell?"

"It's that Impulse kid! Kill him!"

However, as the four tried to fend him off, Impulse just simply leapt up at one of the others, knocking him down before delivering a punch to the face, rendering him unconscious.

Using the momentum, he then flipped into the air before delivering a kick to the face of the second guy with the back of his feet, knocking him out.

The third guy was also put down easily when Impulse slid him off his feet and delivered a chop to the back of the neck.

The fourth guy looked as if he was about to faint. In fact, he was too scared to pull the trigger on his shotgun.

Impulse decided to get things done quickly.

Suddenly, in a blur of red and white, he bolted up to the man before leaping into the air and delivering a hard sucker punch to his face, knocking out some of his teeth and rendering him unconscious.

"Right then, now to see what's in that container". The speedster said to himself.

However, as he began to make his way towards the container, he stopped as he noticed something.

The Geiger counter on his HUD was clicking as the needle was moving.

He stepped closer.

More clicking.

Whatever was in that container was radioactive.

Taking a few steps back for his safety, Impulse pulled out his mobile and dialled 911.

It rang for a few moments as he held it up to his ear.

"911 emergency, what's your problem?" asked a voice on the other end.

"Hello, police? I seem to have encountered something you might want to check out in the industrial district".

"Okay, state your problem, please".

"Well, I came across a few suspicious looking individuals in an old warehouse, each armed with shotguns, standing around a shipping container, saying that they needed to wait until their boss got there".

"Okay, which warehouse are they at?"

"I didn't see any markings, but you'll know which one. It's the one with a giant shipping container. Anyway, I've managed to knock those guys out, but my Geiger counter is going crazy every time I step close to the container. There's something radioactive inside it".

"Roger that, we'll send our units out immediately to investigate".

"Great. Thanks".

He hung up before checking his watch again.

8:55pm

He shrugged.

"Meh. Whatever" he said to himself before bolting off, back to City Hall.

When Impulse returned to standing on top of City Hall, waiting for the mayor, he noticed that a few police cars had turned up, so as to give the mayor protection when he arrived.

He also noted the media crews standing near to the podium where the mayor would make his appearance.

"I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they seem I'm real" Impulse said to himself, grinning.

As the time drew nearer, a small crowd of other people also gathered, waiting to hear what he had to say.

Then, finally, as exactly 9:00pm, the mayor himself, Nathaniel Larson, flanked by police commissioner Frank Drummond, appeared on the steps of City hall as the cameras flashed and the news crews started filming.

Nathaniel stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat before beginning.

"Greetings, Chicago. Now, as you are no doubt aware by this point, there have been supposed reports of an apparent "speedster" by the name of "Impulse" who has been sighted in this city, doing the job that our police force is doing. Now, I know I'm probably not going to be the first to speak out against these reports, but I will anyway. It's just not possible. I mean, come on. We have a damn good police force that patrol the city day and night, keeping citizens safe. And yet people say that they saw a teenager in red and white spandex blaze past in the blink of an eye, doing the job of a policeman even better. To me, these aren't the tales of a hero. These are just false claims made by those who doubt the CPD. Besides, there's no factual text in the world, religious or otherwise, that states that people can run faster than sound. So let me rephrase it again: Impulse isn't real".

Just then, a small envelope dropped onto the podium in front of him.

Curious, he picked it up and slowly opened it.

On a small piece of paper inside was a message.

_Are you sure about that?_

"THERE HE IS!" Yelled out a person in the crowd, pointing towards a shadowy pair of red boots on top of City Hall. "IT'S IMPULSE!"

As they all turned to look, Impulse dashed down the side of the building in the blink of an eye before stopping in front of podium.

"TA DA!" He yelled out, holding out both his arms.

For a short moment, there was silence.

Then, the large group of people erupted into wild cheers and applause as the cameras began flashing.

Impulse bowed courteously.

Behind him, the mayor had a look of utter shock on his face. He had just said that Impulse wasn't real. Yet Impulse was standing before him. It was as if he'd just been pantsed in front of the entire crowd.

The police commissioner, however, was just plain amazed at the fact that Impulse was both real and fast.

"Well, it's been crash, but I've gotta run. Adios!" Impulse said to the crowd as a group of reporters got closer to him.

With that, he took off down the road in a blur of red and white.

As the crowd tailed after him, the commissioner said something into the ear of the now red faced mayor.

"Still don't think Impulse is real?"


	3. Mister Worldwide

**Chapter 3: Mister Worldwide**

_A week after Impulse appeared to the public_

Over the course of the last seven days, Impulse had ballooned in popularity.

Impulse would often make headline news with his escapades, helping to keep the streets of Chicago clean of criminal scum.

What's more, his fan following was rapidly growing in size. People often considered him as a watershed moment, showing the world just what is really possible with science and technology. Others considered him a great role model for people to look up to. There were even those who said that his arrival was equivalent to that of the second coming.

Out of curiosity, Jacob had even set up a Twitter account as Impulse.

After one week, here were the stats:

Jacob's account: 6 followers

Impulse's account: 100,000 followers and counting.

However, with the increase in popularity came an increase in hate, albeit at a substantially lower level. Some people had often called Impulse a "freak of nature". Certain religious groups said that he was everything their religion stood against. A few politicians called him a threat to the safety of the world. The Westboro Baptist Church protested against him with slogans such as "God hates Impulse".

However, to Impulse, these haters were just jealous that he had powers and they didn't.

"Haters gonna hate" he said to this.

As the week had worn on, he'd managed to improve his crime fighting even further with the help of his father.

For starters, Derek had been able to upgrade the soles of his boots with a thick rubbery material, equivalent to those used in the landing gear of jet planes, meaning that they'd be more resistant to friction whilst he was running.

Then, he'd also upgraded the suit material with a thin layer of Nomex underneath, allowing him to be protected from any potential fire damage.

As for Jacob himself, he'd decided to take a different step, this time to help preserve his secret identity. This time, he'd gotten himself a new mobile phone and shifted all his contacts over to it, with the old one to be used only when he was Impulse.

However, as the week had worn on, Impulse couldn't help but notice that something seemed to be going on with the city.

Ever since he'd become Impulse, he couldn't help but notice that crime in the city had become more prevalent. And it wasn't just the typical kinds of crimes an ordinary police officer sorts out, some of it could have potentially been borderline terrorism, with all sorts of bombs and chemical weapons being found in various remote locations in the city.

"I get the feeling something big is going on" Impulse said to himself as he looked out over his beloved city. "I need to find out just what it is".

Just then, however, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

He raised an eyebrow as he pulled it out.

No one had ever called him like this.

He answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Is this Impulse I'm talking to?" replied a voice.

"Okay, who are you and how did you get this number?"

"This is police commissioner Frank Drummond. We backtracked one of the calls you made earlier this month about the nuclear substance you found in the industrial district. We've managed to investigate further into it, but we've discovered something that we can't sort out alone. If it is at all possible, we need your help to sort it out. Meet me at the CPD building".

Impulse smirked.

He liked where this was going.

"Got it. On my way" he replied before hanging up, putting the phone into his pocket and bolting off towards the CPD building, arriving at the reception desk in a matter of seconds.

"I'm here to see the commissioner. He just called me, asking for my help".

"Um...S-sure." the receptionist replied, shocked at the fact that _the _Impulse was standing before her. "J-just...erm...take a seat and I'll go get him".

"Ok. Thanks".

With that, Impulse sat himself down on the chair, pulled out his phone and began to play solitaire.

This was indeed a strange sight to behold.

Other people in the reception area also couldn't believe what they were seeing, with many of them pulling out their phones and taking pictures.

Thankfully, the commissioner arrived very soon.

"Glad you could make it on such short notice, Impulse"

"Don't worry. I'm here now" The speedster replied, pocketing his phone and shaking the commissioner's hand. "So what seems to be the problem?"

"Follow me. I'll explain as we go" Frank replied, motioning to the door he'd just came through.

As the two walked along the corridors of the police building, various officers were stopping and staring in shock as the speedster just walked past.

"So, as you're probably well aware by this point, the crime rate in this city has become greater than it has been for a while. Whilst we haven't been able to find a definitive cause for this, we may have found a potential one. One which links back to the shipping container you found".

"I take it you found where the shipment came from, then".

"Precisely".

The two walked in to the main briefing room.

There, sitting at a small table in the middle of the room, was a tall, dark haired man.

"Impulse, this is Frederico Alfaro. He is here on behalf of Interpol to discuss matters".

"Pleasure to meet you, senor" Impulse said to the Spaniard, shaking his hand.

"Likewise, Impulse" he replied, a thick Spanish accent accompanying his words. "Anyway, let's not waste any time. Let's get down to business".

Impulse sat at the opposite end of the table as the Spaniard produced a file.

"I take it that whatever's in that file contains the details about that shipment, right?"

"Absolutely."

Frank slid the file across to Impulse.

However, as Impulse opened the file, his attention was caught by the very first picture.

"Hang on. Is that a nuke?"

"Yes, and a badly built one at that. In fact, it was so badly built, you could easily just pull the metal platings apart to find the nuclear substance inside".

"But who would ask for such a crappy nuke?"

The very same people who have been causing running rampant in this city.

As Impulse flicked to the next page, he saw what they were on about.

Attached to the page was a small photo. On this photo was a strange sort of emblem: a skull with what appeared to be a katana through its right eye.

"That is the symbol of the dark mamba criminal enterprise." explained Frederico. "They're responsible for most organised crime on this side of the equator, especially the rise of crime in this city."

"And they're the ones that had the nuke shipped in, right?"

"Right. Whilst we haven't been able to identify any key of the organisation, we have found a potential lead".

On the next page, a mugshot was attached of a portly man with a receding hair line.

"Jim Davis. He's one of the men who supplies the organisation with their equipment and the only one we've been able to identify. We've managed to track the New Zealander down to his hideout in an abandoned military outpost near Karachi in Pakistan. However, due to his now insane wealth, he's been able to fabricate a grip on key members of the authorities out there, making him virtually untouchable. Hell, the guy even has his own private army".

"I take it that's where I come in".

"Exactly. We need you to head out to Pakistan and take him down yourself. Seeing as we can't do anything with him out there, so we also need you to bring him back here _alive_ for questioning."

Impulse thought about this for a second.

"Okay, sure" he replied. "I've always wanted to show the rest of the world what I'm capable of. Besides, if we don't take down that criminal organisation soo, we could all soon be feeling the mode".

"Alright. Take the mugshot with you in case you have trouble identifying him and remember: we need him back alive."

"You're lucky killing isn't my forte. Anyway, I'd better get it done. Be back in a flash!"

With that, Impulse dashed out of the building and out of the city, heading towards Pakistan.

However, as he drew closer to the pacific, he realised something: he'd never practised running across water before. Granted, he knew he could pull it off, but he'd have to be running really freaking fast to do so.

As he reached San Francisco, he was running faster than he'd ever run before.

Then, as the Pacific came into view, he picked up more speed, shutting his eyes and waiting for the moment where he first stepped onto the water.

Then, finally, he heard light, fast splashing under his feet.

He opened his eyes and looked down at his feet.

He was now running on water.

He couldn't help but laugh to himself as he continued onwards.

* * *

><p><em>Pakistan<em>

Despite leaving Chicago in the middle of the night, Impulse reached Pakistan in the afternoon. Or rather the afternoon he'd just been through back in America.

This was only real flaw he found every time he'd gone travelling: having to adjust to the different time zone.

Thankfully for him, however, he knew he didn't have to be there much longer.

As he stood on a small mound, he looked out at his surroundings.

There, just below him, was the very military outpost that they'd told him about.

However, as he was about to dash down there and bust through the gate, he remembered what they'd said about him.

"The guy even has his own private army".

"Too bad they won't catch me" he said to himself.

He raced up to the front gates, vibrating through them before continuing.

Almost immediately, however, he ran into a problem, as he was instantly spotted by militants within the compound as he sped past.

Nearby, he heard shouting in Arabic.

This was soon followed by an alarm going off.

Impulse continued zipping around the compound, looking all over for his target.

Every time a group of militants spotted Impulse speed past, they levelled their guns and tried to shoot him down, but only ended up wasting their ammo.

They also tried to set up blocks in the road, but Impulse found a way past every time.

As for the speedster himself, he was looking all over the base, but couldn't find his target anywhere.

"Come on. He has to be here somewhere" he said to himself.

However, his fortune took a turn for the better.

As he rounded a corner, he spotted a convoy of vehicles leaving the compound.

Amongst them, right in the middle of the convoy, was a black limousine.

"If he's anywhere, he's there." Impulse said to himself as he took off after the convoy.

Pulling up alongside the limo, he switched on his thermal imager.

Inside the limousine were a few figures, but he could easily make out the shape of a fat man sitting closest to him.

Vibrating his arm through the car door, he grabbed hold of the collar of the figure's shirt and pulled him out before throwing him to the ground.

It was Jim Davis.

"There you are, you little slimeball" Impulse said as he took the man up by the collar of his shirt.

"W-what are you?" He rasped.

"Your reckoning" Impulse replied.

With that, Impulse took off back to America, dragging a screaming Jim Davis by his shirt collar.

It was only another few seconds before he was rushing back into the CPD building and through the corridors before finally arriving back in the briefing room, where Frank and Frederico had been waiting for him.

"How fast was that?" he asked the two.

"Just under three minutes." Frank replied. "Amazing".

Frederico then produced a black briefcase.

"Consider this a thank you gift for bringing him in" he said, handing it to the speedster.

"Don't mention it. Thanks" he replied. "Need any help interrogating this guy? I could bring my cheese grater with me".

Frederico chuckled slightly.

"Thanks for the offer, Impulse, but we'll take it from here".

"Okay then. Well, I've gotta run. It's been crash".

With that, Impulse left the building, carrying the briefcase with him.

However, as he ran back over the rooftops towards his home, he felt an urge to find out what was inside.

Stopping quickly, he put the briefcase down on top of a nearby vent before opening it slightly.

He then snapped it shut, a huge grin appearing on his face.

"Dad will not believe this" he said to himself.

Picking up the briefcase, he bolted back home faster than ever before, leaping back over his garden fence and back inside.

His dad was waiting for him, sat on the sofa with a glass of wine.

"Ah, welcome back, Jacob." he said to his son. "How was it?"

He then noticed the suitcase in his hand.

"What's with the briefcase?"

"It's a little thank you present from Interpol for helping them bring in this guy with possible leads on a criminal organisation in the city".

Jacob then placed the briefcase on the table.

"Prepare to be amazed".

With that, Jacob undid the straps and fully opened the briefcase, revealing the contents.

Inside the briefcase were large stacks of cash.

Attached to the opposite side was a small note.

It read:

_$600,000 in total, as a token of our gratitude._

_Gracias._

Jacob's father had a look of both shock and amazement on his face.

"Holy crap" he said, a huge smile appearing on his face.

* * *

><p><strong>The following is a recorded conversation between four unidentified individuals and a person referred to as "The Boss"<strong>

**?**: Look, mate. I understand that you've got beef with some guys, but do you seriously expect one of us to clean up your mess each time?

**?**: Why did you even invite me here. I don't even know any of these losers.

**?**: Hold your tongue unless you want me to remove it myself.

**The**** Boss**: Quiet! Now then, as I'm sure you're aware by now, one of my prime suppliers out in the middle east has just been busted. Frankly, I don't take too kindly to that.

**?**: So I take it you hired us to hunt that person who busted him down.

**The**** Boss**: Exactly. What I have in mind is a little game of hunt the target. It's very simple. This target shows up somewhere in this city every night. I also have a large bounty placed on his head. So, the first one of you four to bring me the head of my target wins the bounty.

**?**: Well, that sounds tempting, but how much are you offering? $1 million? $2 million?

**The Boss**: How does $15 million sound?

*Short Silence*

**?**: Who's the target?

*Sound of paper landing on table*

*Short silence*

**?**: You don't mean...

**The Boss**: Yes. Impulse must die.


	4. Assassins and Archers

**Chapter 4: Assassins and Archers**

The first day at a new school is always the most nerve-wracking. Everyone knows that. There's nothing more surreal than turning up at a brand new school for the first time, not knowing how things are going to be.

And at this very moment in time, this couldn't have been more true for Amy McLure as she entered the front doors of Saint Augustus.

As she nervously made her was towards the principal's office, she found herself getting stared at by various other students as she walked by.

"Who's she?"

"Probably another new kid".

"Is she kidding with that hairstyle?"

"That attire is so last year."

Admittedly, Amy wasn't the most socially conscious girl. She'd never really followed trends in anything, believing that the best thing to do was to do your own thing, rather than follow what others were doing.

Very soon, though, she arrived at the office of Principal Upton.

She knocked on the door, nervously fiddling with a strand of her dark brown hair.

"Come in" came a voice from inside.

Tentatively, Amy opened the door.

There, sitting at his desk, was Principal Upton.

"Ah, miss McLure. I've been expecting you." he said, getting out of his chair and shaking her hand. "Welcome to Saint Augustus".

"Thank you, sir" she replied, nervously.

"Now then, before your guide gets here, I'd like to say a few words. I've checked your student record and from what I've seen, it's pretty impressive. Which is why I couldn't be happier about someone like you joining our school. Keep things up and stay out of trouble and you'll have a good chance of being on the honour roll."

"Will do. Thanks"

Principal Upton then pulled a piece of paper out of his top drawer and handed it to her.

"Here's your timetable for the semester. The guide will show you where the rooms are once he gets here".

Sure enough, a knock was heard at the door.

"Come in"

Jacob then entered the room.

"Ah, mister Laverne. Glad you could make it. Amy, this is Jacob. He'll be your guide for your first day".

"Glad to meet you." Jacob said, shaking her hand.

"Likewise".

"Anyway, Amy. Have a good day"

"Will do. Bye".

The two then left the principal's office.

"Quick word of warning about him" Jacob said to Amy as they walked. "Don't get on his bad side. Ever. He seemed like a nice guy there, but if he's angry..."

"He's really angry?"

"Pretty much, yeah".

"Reminds me of my old high school principal. Nice guy, but had volcanic rage".

"Where was your old high school?"

"Denver. Came here because my brother wanted to open up a car dealership here."

"What kind of cars?"

"Classics. Mostly muscle cars. Hell, he actually offered to drive me to school in his bright red Cobra GT500 Mustang. Only problem was that when he tried to start it up, we discovered some of the gears were broken, so I had to take the bus".

"Sounds like you know a fair bit about cars".

"Well, I do help my brother out with restoring them. So, what about you?"

"Well, I like cars, but I just like anything that can go fast. And superheroes".

"I take it you were pretty happy when Impulse first showed up".

"You've heard of Impulse?"

"Duh! Who hasn't? He's, like, the best thing since the invention of the internet".

Jacob couldn't help but smile at this.

"If only she knew" he thought to himself.

As Jacob took Amy on a tour of the school, Amy listened intently onto each piece of advice he gave her.

"So, what lesson do you have for first period?" he asked her once their tour was over.

Amy looked at her timetable and groaned.

"History" she replied.

Jacob checked his timetable.

"Hey, that's what I have first!"

"We'd best be heading over there then".

However, as the two rounded a corner, Jacob groaned.

"What is it?"

Jacob pointed down the corridor.

There, leaning against a small group of lockers, were Duncan and some of his jock friends, chatting about "babes and football".

Amy then groaned as well.

"Jocks. I hate Jocks"

"Whatever you do, don't make eye contact" Jacob said to her.

The two began to make their way down the corridor, slipping through any groups of students, trying to avoid catching the attention of the jocks.

However, it was to be in vain.

The three jocks went up to the two.

"Hey, what up girl?" Duncan said to Amy. "You new here?"

"Damn it" Amy whispered before turning round to face them. "Uh, hi. Yes, I'm new here. Jacob was just taking me on a tour".

"Well, why you gotta hang around with that loser? Hang with some real men. We'll give you a real good tour then".

Amy could immediately tell they had a different kind of "Tour" in mind.

"Erm, I'd rather not, thanks" she said, backing away slightly.

"Aw, c'mon. What is it that twerp has that we haven't?"

"Well, he isn't being a testosterone-fuelled Neanderthal who thinks with his gonads." retorted Amy. "I've seen others like you back at my last high school, and you're just as bad...no, worse than them! Do yourselves a favour: staple your ears to your testes. Have a nice day, twats!"

As she span round and continued walking with Jacob, the two sharing a high five, the three jocks were left reeling in embarrassment from Amy's rant.

They'd never had anyone rant against them like that before. Especially not a girl.

* * *

><p>As Impulse bolted across the rooftops, he couldn't help but reflect on his day at school, particularly with Amy.<p>

He didn't really know why, but there was something about her that drew him in.

Perhaps it was her personality. Or her good looks. Or the fact that she hated Duncan with a passion.

"I don't know why, but she seems like the girl I'd really like to get to know better" he thought to himself.

He chuckled to himself when he remembered what she'd said about Impulse.

"I can only imagine what would happen if she found out I was Impulse. Her face would be priceless".

However, as he continued running, he noticed something was wrong.

Nothing was happening.

Not that there was anything wrong with a lack of crime, but the city crime rate was supposed to be rising with the arrival of the Dark Mamba criminal organisation.

Impulse knew something bad was bound to happen soon enough. It was just a case of when.

Impulse just decided to keep running until trouble did show up.

However, Impulse discovered something quicker than he'd anticipated.

Standing on the roof of a nearby building was a middle aged man.

He was frozen in fear, with a look of terror on his face.

"Hey, are you alright?" Impulse asked the man.

"You...h-have to help me" the man rasped.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Please...Get her away from me".

"Who? I don't see anyone here apart from the two of us".

Then, as if on cue, out of a puff of smoke, a young woman, dressed in red and black leather and brandishing a katana leapt into the air, ready to bring the sword down on Impulse.

The speedster anticipated this, dodging out of the way.

The woman picked herself up to face him.

"Impulse. Finally, I've found you".

"So, who might you be?"

"That is none of your concern, for very soon, you will be dead and I will be 15 million dollars richer".

She then swung her sword in the speedster's direction.

However, Impulse dodged out of the way again.

The two then engaged in furious one-on-one combat. Impulse should've had the edge with his speed, but every time he tried to strike, the woman would always bring her katana down, preventing him from attacking.

"Give up, speedster" she rasped at him. "Your feeble attempts to attacks only delay the inevi-"

She was then cut off as she flinched in pain from an unknown source.

For a few seconds, she just stood there, looking half asleep.

Then, finally, she fell to the ground, unconscious, with her katana by her side.

Impulse could now see what had caused this.

An arrow was stuck on the back of the woman's neck.

It wasn't your ordinary arrow, but appeared to be a custom made one.

As Impulse took it off and inspected the tip, he discovered that it had opened to reveal a small syringe needle.

Anesthetic. And lots of it.

He then heard something latch on to the side of the building.

As Impulse looked over, he saw a long rope attached to the side of the building by another arrow.

A young girl was making her way along the rope towards his position.

She was dressed in green trousers, a green top with mask and green gloves.

She carried in one hand a large green bow. On her back was a matching quiver, full of arrows.

Impulse couldn't help but smile at this.

"It's about time another showed up" he said to himself.

This girl was Artemis.

This wasn't just a cheap look either. This girl looked exactly like Artemis. She even had the long blonde ponytail.

"Thanks for the assist" Impulse said to her as she arrived on the rooftop.

"No problem. Just figured you could use some help" she replied.

She detached some rope from her belt, tying up the assassin as Impulse gave Artemis back her arrow.

"So who's she then?"

"She's Michiko Oshiro. Trained by various Ex-Special forces operatives in stealth and survival tactics, she's one of the most skilled mercenaries in the world, let alone Japan".

"So essentially, she's the real life version of Lady Shiva".

"Pretty much".

"Well then, what would she be doing in Chicago?"

As Artemis looked at him with a look that said "dude, seriously?", he realised the answer.

"Let me guess: The Dark Mambas hired her"

"Yes. Her and three others".

"How much is on my head?"

"About $15 million".

"How do you know all this?"

"I've been able to successfully keep tabs on them. In fact, all this is why I'm here right now. You will undoubtedly want to take these guys down before they take you down. That also happens to be my goal as well: to take them down before they kill you".

"Wait, why do you care about me? This is the first time the two of us have met in person".

"I care because this city needs more people like the two of us. In fact, you're the one who inspired me to take up the identity of Artemis."

However, it was at this point that Impulse noticed a small red dot hovering on the side of Artemis's head.

"WATCH IT!" He yelled, pulling Artemis away from where she was standing as the sound of a sniper rifle rang out from nearby as a 50 calibre bullet struck the ground close to them.

Inspecting the the spot where the bullet landed, Impulse quickly figured out the trajectory and where the bullet came from.

Quickly rushing across to the building where the bullet came from, Impulse found a lone male, dressed in urban army camouflage, wearing a matching balaclava which covered almost all of his face, expect for his eyes.

A pair of silenced firearms were attached to his arms.

Most intriguingly, however, was what appeared to be large red lens over his right eye.

However, before the man could point his twin firearms at Impulse, the speedster rushed up and rendered him unconscious with one solid punch to the back of the head.

He then grabbed the man by his collar and dragged him over to Artemis, putting him down next to Michiko.

"Our culprit. It appears that this universe also has its own version of Deadshot".

"Brodie Summers. Former Delta Force Operative. One of the most decorated snipers this side of the Pacific. Discharged a few years ago due to disobeying the orders of senior officers".

"So that's two down, two to go".

Artemis then reached into a small pouch on her belt and produced a small syringe full of anesthetic, injecting it into Brodie's arm.

"We don't need to worry about these two waking up. They'll be asleep for seven hours and when they do wake up, they'll be as floppy as a damp sock".

She pocketed the syringe.

"Quick question. How exactly did you get so much anesthetic?"

"Impulse my friend, what you don't know can't hurt you".

"Sounds like someone has a few secrets up their sleeve"

"Heh. Look who's talking, mister superhero".

"Is that jealousy I hear in your voice, Artemis?"

"Why would I be jealous? I can use a bow and arrow probably a lot better than you ever could".

"Yeah, you're probably right".

Just then, six police cars went racing down the road, sirens blaring.

"What seems to be their problem, then?"

"I don't know, but something tells me that it has something to do with one of the other assassins".

"We'd better check it out then".

"Can I get a lift?"

"Be my guest".

"Thanks"

Artemis then clambered onto Impulse's back before he took off across the rooftops, following the police cars below.

In only a matter of seconds, the duo found themselves standing opposite the Chicago White Sox stadium, with dozens of police cars lined up below, forming a blockade.

Artemis clambered off Impulse's back, shaking.

"Enjoy the ride?"

"N-n-n-n-not really" Artemis muttered, looking like she was about the throw up.

Within the grounds of the stadium, long jets of flame were being launched into the sky.

Everything inside appeared to be on fire.

"And this is..."

"Amos Alberts. Former Seattle fire-fighter. 90% of his body has been covered with hideous burning, due to an accident on a call out. Since then, it appears he has developed pyromania. Wanted for several cases of...well, arson. And murder. Obviously".

"Firefly".

"Bingo".

Just then, the wails of fire engines were heard, getting rapidly louder.

"Shall we?"

"Let's do it".

As Artemis clambered back onto Impulse, the speedster ran down the side of the building, across the road, over the police cars and up the side of the stadium.

As they perched on the top of the stadium, they could see the full extent of the carnage.

About 65% of the spectator seats were on fire, burning at around 400 degrees celsius.

In the very middle of the stadium, hovering in the air, thanks to home made wings, was Firefly himself, launching jets of flame everywhere, thanks to his dual wield flamethrowers.

However, just before the two were about to rush down there and take him down, they spotted something.

There, lying on the ground near to the pyromaniac, was a group of fourteen hostages, each one gasping for breath and covered in soot.

"COME TO FIREFLY, SPEEDSTER!" Firefly yelled out as he noticed Impulse perched on the top of the stadium. "FOR VERY SOON, YOU AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND WILL BE A SMOULDERING WRECK ON THE GROUND!"

"I'll go for the hostages. You go for Firefly" Impulse said to Artemis.

"Right"

With that, Impulse dashed off towards the hostages as Firefly let rip two long jets of searing hot flame.

Getting to the hostages was easier said than done, as it was difficult for the speedster to find a safe route through the fire.

Even when he did, he could feel his strength and stamina getting addled by the flames and the toxic smoke.

However, he was able to reach the hostages, scooping them up and getting them to the police blockade as quickly as possible, one by one.

Artemis, meanwhile, was trying to take Firefly down by trying to deactivate his wings.

However, each time she tried to land a shot, Firefly would end up countering with a jet of flame.

"Oh, just give up already, girl" Firefly said to her mockingly. "You're only delaying your ultimate fate".

"No she's not!" Called out Impulse, who was now standing on the opposite side of the stadium.

However, before Firefly could scorch his target into a crisp, Impulse began furiously flapping his arms in his direction.

As his arms became a blur, this created ferocious winds that threatened to send Firefly falling out of the sky.

He began to fly as fast as possible towards Impulse, hoping to counter things out.

But this was all part of Impulse's plan.

As Firefly tried to get to Impulse, Artemis relocated herself to another point on the top of the stadium before notching another arrow, aiming it straight for the assassin before launching it towards him, taking into account the distance and wind speed.

It struck the fuel tank.

As it exploded, it hurled Firefly through the air, destroying his wings.

As he crashed to the ground, he was battered and bruised, but was very much alive, thanks to his flame retardant suit.

He struggled back to his feet, trying to make a break for it.

However, Impulse was too fast for him, delivering a quick knock out blow to the face.

"Lights out!" Impulse said to him.

* * *

><p>Thankfully, it didn't take too long before the fire was put out.<p>

Once this was done, the police were able to secure the location and apprehend Firefly.

Impulse also took this opportunity to hand over the unconscious bodies of Brodie and Michiko.

The hostages were also able to receive the proper medical attention.

At the end of it all, Impulse and Artemis were tired and dirty as they looked back at the scene from their location on the rooftops, but they were satisfied with their work.

"You know, the two of us make a pretty good team"

"Yeah, but we can't stop to celebrate just yet. There's still one assassin left in this city and he just so happens to be the most dangerous".

"Deathstroke?"

"Unfortunately, yes".

"You called?" asked a gravely voice.

The two span round to face where the voice was coming from, Artemis notching an arrow.

The voice belonged to a male figure, dressed in combat fatigues, bristling with weapons and ammo.

But most notably, he wore a few metal pieces of armour, including a metal mask with just one eye hole.

This was unmistakably this world's version of Deathstroke.

"It appears you're aware of the fact that I was one of the four hired to take you down, Impulse".

"Yeah, well I'm afraid that won't be happening, buddy".

"Indeed it won't be".

"I- wait, what?"

"Whilst I do draw my tactics from Deathstroke the Terminator, there are multiple things that separate myself from Slade Wilson. For one, I do not have heightened strength. But the most notable thing is that when I'm out on a contracted mission, I always value my sanctity over others. I will only ever go after a target if I have a good chance of making it out alive and a free man. Whilst I did indeed agree to the dark mamba's offer, having just witnessed the power of you and your lady friend first hand, I think it would be best if I let this offer go. For today, at least".

"Good choice, but remember: I'll be watching you".

Impulse then turned to Artemis.

"Well, it's been crash, but I've gotta run."

He held out his hand.

"Nice to know I'm not the only hero in this city".

Artemis smiled, shaking his hand.

"Likewise".

"Sayonara!"

With that, Impulse blasted off, back towards his home.

"Say, is Impulse your boyfriend?" Deathstroke asked Artemis.

The archer didn't say anything. She just gave the assassin a _really_ dirty look.


	5. Shocking, Isn't it?

**Chapter 5: Shocking, isn't it?**

**The Boss: **THEY DID WHAT?!...WHAT?!...Well, what about Deathstroke?...HE QUIT?!...WELL I DON'T CARE HOW MANY ASSASSINS IT TAKES! I WANT THEIR HEADS ON SILVER PLATTERS AND I WON'T REST UNTIL THAT HAPPENS!

*Sound of phone slamming*

**The Boss: **Imbecile

**?: **I couldn't have put it better myself.

**The Boss: **What?! How DARE you enter my office.

**?: **Oh, I think you'll find I'm not in your office.

**The Boss: ***Sigh* Look, why are you here? Can't you see I'm busy.

**?: **It's simple really. I'm here because I have a goal that is not too far away from yours

**The Boss: **And that is?

**?: **Impulse and Artemis. Dead. Humiliated first, but dead either way.

**The Boss: **Those two caught my attention when they stepped onto my turf and started messing with my operations. What about you?

**?: **Well, they haven't actually done anything to me just yet. However, they have given me a golden opportunity. If we can destroy them, it will show the world just how powerful we can be.

**The Boss: **And just how exactly are you planning on doing this?

**?: ** Simple. I've got some of the guys at my lab to engineer a little something. I call it "Project Volt"...

* * *

><p><em>Two weeks after Artemis arrived<em>

Jacob hadn't been able to stop thinking about the arrival of the female archer.

He didn't really know why, but he got the impression that there was more to her than she was letting on.

"I just find it odd that a new girl arrives at school and a new vigilante appears on the same day" he said to his father at the breakfast table.

"Maybe Amy and Artemis are one and the same".

"Well, one has brown hair and green eyes, the other has blonde hair and blue eyes".

"Wig and contacts?"

"Maybe. I'll have to look into it".

Just then, the phone rang.

Jacob's dad went over to answer it.

"Hello?" He asked, putting the phone up to his ear.

After a few seconds, he took the phone away from his ear and turned to Jacob.

"Good news. School's just been cancelled. There's been a burst water pipe".

Jacob couldn't believe his luck.

"YES! Well, you know where I'm going to be today".

In the space of a few seconds, Jacob finished off his breakfast, dashed up to his room, put on his costume, pocketed his phone and dashed back downstairs.

"I guess you won't be back until much later".

"Probably".

"Well then, remember to come back here and get some lunch and please be careful".

"Will do. Bye dad!"

With that, Impulse then hugged his dad before dashing out the back door and leaping over the garden fence.

However, before he could speed off into the city, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Confused, he pulled it out of his pocket.

It wasn't Frank calling him.

He answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Is that you, Impulse?"

"Artemis? How the hell did you get this number?"

"I hacked into the police database and looked through each call made until I found you. Anyway, I need to meet up with you on the subject of something urgent. Meet me on the roof of the Reserve Bank and I'll tell you further".

She hung up.

Within a few seconds, had blitzed off into the city and was stood on the roof of the Reserve Bank.

Artemis soon arrived, carrying a small backpack with her.

"So what seems to be the problem? More assassins?"

"No. Congress".

This caught the speedster's attention.

Artemis reached into her backpack, pulling out a laptop and opening it.

On the screen was a website detailing a bill that Congress was debating about whether or not to pass.

But what really caught the speedster's attention was the name of the bill.

The Anti Vigilantism act. ANVA.

However, what really caught his attention was the name of the bill.

The Anti Vigilante act.

Things only got worse as Impulse read through the implications of the bill.

Once he'd finished, he looked over at Artemis with an expression of disgust and disbelief on his face.

"Are congress seriously planning on passing this crap?"

"My thoughts exactly. What makes it worse is that those who are opposing this bill aren't getting much support, as an alarmingly small number of people know about it."

"I guess that's why you called me up here, then".

"Yes. There's a protest against the bill currently going on and I've managed to get in touch with the one staging it. How much free time have you got?"

"Bags."

"Care to join me?"

"Gladly"

With that, Impulse scooped up the archer and bolted out of the city.

Within a few seconds, the duo found themselves standing directly outside the gates of the US Capitol, in a group of about 300+ protestors.

As they arrived, the protestors fell silent at their arrival, as they looked at their heroes in awe.

"What? Never seen a superhero before?" Impulse asked the crowd.

Then, the whole crowd erupted in wild cheering and applause.

"Hey, we're just happy to be here" Artemis said to the crowd. "Now then, we're looking for a guy named Roger Sanders. Know where he is?"

"That's me!" Called out a young student in a Batman T-Shirt as he came up to the duo. "Glad you could make it".

"We're always happy to help" Impulse replied. "Anyway, what's the situation?"

"The house of representatives are currently debating the issue at the moment. They should be coming out to take a break in a few moments".

"Well then, we'll give them a little surprise when they do come out".

For the next few minutes, the protestors stood outside the gates, waiting for the congressmen to appear.

Growing bored, Impulse quickly dashed off into downtown DC, quickly returning with a hot dog covered in ketchup.

As they waited, several limousines pulled up on the sidewalk.

Then, finally, a large group of congressmen came walking out of the Capitol building.

As their bodyguards opened the gates and pushed through the crowd, the crowd were calling out to them, urging them to vote against the bill.

"Sorry, ladies and gentlemen" one of the congressmen said to the crowd "but only we can decide on what happens"

This was greeted by angry boos from the crowd.

"Stubborn, aren't they?" he said to another.

"Too right. Besides, they should be grateful. When the bill passes, they'll be but a little bit safer".

However, as pushed through the crowd and reached their limousines, they stopped and stared.

There, lying on the roof of one of the limousines, was Artemis, posing like a supermodel whilst Impulse was busy doodling her on a sketch pad at lightning speed.

"Draw me like one of your French women!" Artemis said playfully to the speedster.

"HEY! You kids get down from there!" Ordered one of the security guards.

The two looked at him as if he'd just said something really stupid.

"Kids? I get the impression you haven't been paying attention to the news recently".

The guard pulled out his pistol.

"I won't say it again. Get down from the limousine".

However, in a split second, Impulse jumped off the roof, took his gun and disassembled it until it was lying in pieces on the ground, with the guard holding onto just the ammo clip.

Impulse gave him a cheeky grin as the guard finally realised who he was.

The congressmen who were for the bill looked over at the heroes with disbelief and disgust.

However, those who supported the bill were relieved and happy to see them.

As the guards ushered the congressmen into their limousines, the two heroes were approached by one of the congressmen.

"Let me be the first to say that it is a real pleasure to be able to meet you two in person". He said to them, shaking their hands.

"Hey, we're just happy to meet a politician that opposes the bill".

"Tell me about it. Hell, I get the impression that someone forgot to tell the guys supporting the bill that it isn't the cold war anymore, because they're talking like you're communist weapons".

"I know. That's why we're here".

As the congressman was ushered into his limousine, Impulse had an idea.

"Hey, I just thought of something"

"What might that be"

"If we aren't able to get some of those congressmen to change their stance to oppose the bill, at least we can get them to hear our opinions on it".

"Huh. Good luck with that. Some of them have their heads jammed so far up their butts they can see what they had for breakfast".

"Maybe, but we can go right to the big dog".

"Wait, you aren't considering..."

"Oh yes, Artemis. We are going to break into the White house".

"Dude, have you gone mad?! Do you know how impossible it is to even consider breaking in?"

"I love a challenge. Besides, you're forgetting the fact that I can run faster than anything and everything on the planet. Got any anesthetic?"

"Lots".

"So what do you think?"

Artemis thought about this for a moments before coming to a decision.

"You know what, screw it. I'm in".

Impulse then turned to the crowd.

"We're taking this to the White house!" Impulse yelled to the protestors.

As they cheered, Impulse scooped the archer and sped off towards the White House.

In a couple of seconds, the two had vibrated through the large fence surrounding the white house and were hidden in a nearby hedge.

"Okay, so what's our game plan?"

"Simple. We dodge past the guards and zip up to the windows looking into the oval office. If the president is anywhere, he's bound to be there".

With that, the two zipped from bush to bush before dashing up the side of the building, clinging onto the ledges of the oval office windows.

"Now to wait until the president appears".

Thankfully for them, though, they didn't have to wait long.

As they listened in, they heard the sounds of footsteps, followed by doors opening.

Peeking through the window, they spotted three guys.

President James Winters, Senator Tim Jackson of Illinois (one of the key people against ANVA) and Senator Gregory Long of Connecticut (one of the key people suporting ANVA).

"Thank you for accepting my invitation, gentlemen" President Winters said to the two men.

"Thank you for inviting us in the first place, Mr President" Long replied. "Perhaps we can be able to talk some sense into my colleague".

"Oh, here it is" Jackson said, throwing his hands up. "We haven't been here for five minutes and already he's railing against me for supporting a cause I believe in".

"With all due respect, senator Jackson, vigilantes have the ability to be more powerful than we can comprehend, especially now that one of them is a superhuman who can run faster than sound. What if that one happens to go rogue, then he'll be unstoppable. We need to put this thing in place before that happens".

"But what if it never happens?" Jackson asked. "What if we put vigilantes out of action, only to have them resort to crime as their way of income. Then you and your fellow supporters would be the ones responsible on an increase in crime".

Long scoffed.

"That'll never happen. Not whilst we've got the best police force in the world".

"If I may say a word, senator, I think Mister Jackson makes a good point".

"You're siding with him?! Listen to yourselves! You're saying that these dangerous citizens of society are never going to turn against us. That we can put faith in them. Especially that...freak of nature, Impulse."

"Wow. Someone's on their period" said a voice from outside.

The three men span around to face where the voice was coming from.

Then, much to their surprise, Impulse then vibrated through the window and into the oval office, carrying Artemis with him.

"What the hell?"

"GUARDS!"

Senator Jackson just smiled and shook his head.

"Brilliant"

As the doors flew open, dozens of guards came streaming into the room, pulling out their guns and pointing them at the two heroes.

"Well, there they go with the whole pointing guns at us"

"Were you expecting Nerf guns?"

"SILENCE!" yelled one of the guards.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Demanded the president.

"Simple. My lady friend and I dashed into the white house grounds fast enough so your guards couldn't see us and I vibrated ourselves through the window".

"What do you want?"

"Simple. We wish to voice our opinion on ANVA"

"You'll get no such thing!" replied Long.

Senator Jackson then spoke up.

"Long, this is one of the most secure buildings in the world. And these two teenagers just got in without breaking anything or alerting the guards. I say we give them some time".

"Do not engage with the intruders, Mister Jackson" one of the guards said to him.

"Mister President, I think you'll find that one of us is worth listening to".

President Winters thought about this for a few moments.

"Alright then. Go ahead".

"Thanks" Impulse said, sitting down at the president's desk.

"Now then, as you can guess, we think that ANVA is complete bogus. Mainly because it will put us out of our livelihoods. But it's more than that. You see, if this bill passes, we will disappear. We don't wish to be labelled as I ask you, if we disappear, what if this world has a version of Darkseid that happens to show up. Or Braniac, Zod, Ares, The League of Assassins, Starro and you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" He asked the confused audience.

"I do" said Senator Jackson, unashamedly. "He means like really powerful enemies".

"I like this guy" Impulse said to Artemis.

"Look, you're talking about all these powerful...things coming to Earth. What makes you so certain that they will?" Asked the President

"I never said I was certain. This is just a "What if?" scenario. But if they do turn up and they are unstoppable because of ANVA, the public will want answers. If the public find out that the US passes a regulation that effectively put two of the world's best vigilantes, including the first metahuman, there will indefinitely be fingers pointed and trust me, no one will want to be on the receiving end of that wrath".

An eerie silence swept the room.

"Well, I think we've made our point" Impulse said to Artemis as he jumped out of the chair. "We'd best be-"

However, they were suddenly cut short as the sounds of explosions and screaming from outside.

Concerned as to what was happening, the group flung the windows open, all peering out to see what was happening.

On the street opposite the White House, people were clearing out, screaming.

A few smouldering remains of what appeared to be cars were there.

The only person not running away was one single woman in the middle of the road, with ghostly white skin and light blue hair that stood on end.

She also wore a dark blue jumpsuit.

Then, suddenly, a large bolt of electricity came launching out of one of her hands, striking a nearby car and sending it up in flames.

The group had a look of utter shock on their faces.

"Impossible" Impulse said.

"What is that thing?" Demanded Long.

"It appears to be another meta human" Artemis replied. "And an evil one a that. It appears to be this world's version of Livewire. A D-List Superman villain".

"Mister President, you aren't safe here." One of the guards said to him. "We need to get you to safety".

"Impulse, you get the civilians to safety." Artemis said to the speedster as she readied her bow. "I'll handle Livewire".

"This is going to be the first time we've ever fought a meta human. Are you sure about this?"

"Trust me. I'll be fine".

As Impulse dashed off to help the civilians, Artemis notched one of her explosive arrows, launching it at Livewire before reaching the ground.

The explosion was enough to temporarily stun her.

Artemis then fired another explosive arrow at the fence, blowing a hole in it and allowing her to squeeze through and meet Livewire face to face.

"Well, well. You must be Artemis". Livewire said to the archer. "Huh. I thought you'd be taller".

"Enough talk" Artemis snapped, notching another arrow. "I'm going to make this simple: surrender now and I'll make things easy".

Livewire laughed harshly.

"None of that matters." she replied. "Either way, I will end you".

"You want to put that to the test?"

"Gladly. I love a challenge".

"BRING IT!"

With that, the two engaged in furious one-on-one combat, with the two launching projectile attack after projectile attack at each other.

Each time Livewire launched a bolt of electricity at Artemis, the archer nimbly dodged out of the way, launching an arrow in retaliation. However, these arrows ended up getting fried before they reached their target.

"You know, for a teenager, you're not bad in a fight"

"You should see me when I'm trying".

In this brief moment, Artemis took advantage of this and launched three explosive arrows simultaneously, catching Livewire off guard.

"You know what, screw it!" She said as she picked herself up before reaching a hand out in front of her.

Suddenly, much to her surprise, Artemis found herself slowly getting dragged towards Livewire.

She was dragging her towards her by her electrons and there was nothing the archer could do about it.

She tried firing arrows, but Livewire just ended up frying them with her spare hand.

Then, when Artemis was at Livewire's feet, she grabbed the archer by the throat and lifted her off the ground as Artemis tried to struggle free.

"Time to fry, kid" Livewire rasped.

Suddenly, long bolts of lightning came out of her hands, coursing through Artemis's body as she screamed in pain.

As she tried to struggle free, she felt herself getting faint.

Then, in one last attempt to free herself, Artemis produced one last explosive arrow from her quiver before stabbing Livewire in the leg with it.

As it exploded, the two were launched in opposite directions.

"Oh you are so going to pay for that" Livewire growled, picking herself up.

Artemis tried to pick herself up, but only ended up falling to the ground again.

However, before Livewire could have her way with the Artemis, the two heard a familiar voice ringing out.

"ARTEMIS!"

Suddenly, Impulse came rocketing down the road, carrying a long fire hose with him.

Artemis smiled weakly.

"About time".

The last thing she saw before blacking out was Impulse dousing Livewire in water as she yelled in pain.

"NO! WATER! IT BURNS!"

* * *

><p>As Artemis slowly started to come round, she heard a voice.<p>

It was muffled initially, but it slowly became audible.

"Artemis. Are you okay?"

Her vision then returned.

Impulse was watching over her.

"My head." Artemis groaned, sitting up and rubbing it.

Much to her surprise, she was engulfed in a tight hug from the speedster.

"Thank god you're alright. I'm sorry I couldn't get there any quicker".

"Don't worry. I'm still alive. Just a bit frazzled. Where's Livewire?"

"Don't worry. The authorities have taken her into custody. They're also planning on giving her her own insulated cell. Now then, the president wants to meet with us before we head off".

Impulse scooped up Artemis before bolting back into the white house grounds and up to the oval office.

There, standing in front of his desk was President Winters, accompanied by Senator Jackson.

Unsurprisingly, Senator Long was nowhere to be seen.

"Well you two, I must give you my thanks. before today, I would've labelled you as a pair of dangerous hooligans. Now though, I can see you are better than that. So again, thank you".

"We're just happy to help, sir" Artemis said as she and Impulse shook his hand.

"I think I know my stance on ANVA now" he said.

Impulse and Artemis felt a sense of relief, knowing what he was talking about.

Senator Jackson then approached the two.

"Before you go, I just want to say that it has been a real pleasure meeting you two" he said, shaking their hands. "I'm a big fan".

"Nice to meet you two" Impulse replied. "We're just happy that we're getting some home support. Anyway, we've got stuff to do. Farewell".

With that, the two bolted off, back to Chicago.

"Where do you want me to drop you off?"

"Just drop me off back on the Reserve Bank roof".

"Are you sure".

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll get my brother to pick me up from there".

"Wait, you have a brother?"

"Yeah. I don't like to bring up my personal life whilst on the job".

"That's understandable".

Very soon, the two were back on the reserve Bank roof, where they'd met up.

Artemis gently stood on her feet, wobbling slightly.

"Well, it's been fun...well, except the part where I got fried, but I've got stuff to do".

"Same. But something's been bugging me. How on Earth did our version of Livewire gain her powers?"

"We'll have to look into that. I'm just bugged by the fact that a better villain didn't show up. Maybe Count Vertigo or Professor Zoom would suffice, but no. Freaking Livewire."

Impulse chuckled.

"Yeah. Anyway, I'll see you around".

"Yeah. Bye"

with that, Impulse then dashed down the side of the building and headed for home.

* * *

><p><strong>The Boss: <strong>Well, some creation you made there. You just let her out and already, she's been defeated by those two.

**?: **Hmm. Looking back on it, Project Volt was pretty flawed to begin with. Choosing electricity based powers for your creation is never without flaws.

**The Boss: **Well, now what. You're the genius here. Surely, you've thought of something new.

**?: **Well, you're right about that. Thankfully, I was able to analyse the flaws in Project Volt and now happen to be working on a much better project.

**The Boss:** What did you call this one?

**?:** Project Olympus.


	6. The Olympus Project

**Chapter 6: The Olympus Project**

_A few days after the Livewire incident_

"Come on. Come on".

"Pleeeeease!"

"It's got to be a "no", right?"

If the teacher had been in the room at the time, the three boys would've been put in detention.

However, since Mister Carling was temporarily absent from their IT, Jacob, James and Stuart decided to make the most of the time.

Whilst most of the others were either doing work or playing games on the internet, the trio were waiting to see the results of the ANVA voting.

Ever since the incident in DC, the odds of ANVA being voted against improved dramatically.

But there was still a small chance it would be voted in.

All they needed to do was to wait for the news website they were trying to get into to load.

"Again, it has to be a "no" after the Livewire incident".

"It should be, but you have no idea how dumb congress can be, sometimes. Remember SOPA?"

"Don't remind me, please".

James groaned.

"We wouldn't have this problem if this school wasn't so cheap. Then we'd be able to have better internet connection".

Just then, the website finally started to appear.

The trio eagerly crowded around the monitor as the title for the news article finally appeared.

_ANVA dead after landslide vote against it. President declares ANVA "Ludicrous"_

"YES!" All three yelled, giving each other one big high five.

The others in the room just gave them an odd look.

The three boys then went back to doing what they had originally been doing, pretending as if nothing had happened.

Asides from that, Jacob's day was pretty normal. He finished his school day, put his stuff in his locker and headed home.

This time, however, he found himself walking home with Amy.

He'd found himself walking home with her regularly in the last few weeks, as they actually lived not too far away from each other.

This was made better by Amy's surprisingly good knowledge of comics.

And yet Jacob still had the joy of teaching her new things about comics.

"So, Pre Flashpoint, the original seven of the Justice League had Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. Post Flashpoint, it consisted of the first six and Cyborg?"

"That's right"

"So why did they remove the Manhunter from the original seven?"

"Hell, I don't know. It's actually a pity. I always found him to be a bit underrated".

"Same. I'm just wishing that he'll be in the eventual Justice League movie".

"Honestly, I still think Warner Brothers are trying to cash in on The Avengers".

"Obviously. A Justice League film has been a possibility for years, yet they only properly start considering it after The Avengers movie pops up".

"That movie was pretty good, though".

"Too right".

The two eventually reached the point where they went their separate ways.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then".

"Yeah. See ya".

"Bye"

As they walked off, Jacob couldn't help but smile to himself.

He'd grown to really like Amy and not just because she was herself a a nerd.

She just seemed like such a great person to hang around with, as she always had a sharp, witty sense of humour about her.

Very soon, Jacob arrived at home, said "hi" to his dad and went upstairs to do his room to do his homework, but not before updating his Twitter feed.

_Just heard the news about ANVA failing  
>#Hallelujah!<em>

However, as he brought out his maths book, he heard a faint buzzing sound coming from his top desk drawer.

As he opened it, he grew concerned.

Impulse's phone was vibrating.

On the screen, a number was displayed that belonged to neither the commissioner or Artemis.

What made things even more intriguing was the message displayed underneath it.

_2 Missed Calls_

"Whoever is calling wants to talk to Impulse real bad" Jacob said to himself.

The phone continued to vibrate.

"Ah screw it" he said to himself, grabbing the phone and answering it.

"Okay, whoever you are, who are you, what do you want and how did you get my number?" Demanded Jacob.

"Who I am is none of your concern" replied the voice.

Jacob then recognised the gravely tone.

"Deathstroke?"

"Highest marks. I'm calling to let you know a little secret I found out. I assume you remember when Livewire attacked DC".

"Of course".

"Well, after doing a little bit of rooting around from my…sources, I happened to find out just who engineered Livewire's powers".

"Who?"

"His name is Maxwell Leighton. A genius in biology and physics. Using his vast wealth and intellect, he has assembled a group of the best scientists from around the world and is now working on creating his own metahumans in the bowels of his own company, Maxicorp. Livewire was just the first".

"Why?"

"That I don't know. However, I do know this: Livewire wasn't the last. After discovering that Leighton was responsible for Livewire, I decided to root around on their computer systems for any more information. Whilst I wasn't able to find much, I did find this: Maxicorp appears to be working on a follow up to Project Volt with something called Project Olympus".

"That sounds bad. Wait, why are you telling me this?"

"It's because I've now found myself buried in information I shouldn't be looking at and now that Maxicorp are aware of this, they're after my head. Don't worry about me. I can handle myself in a fight. But if you really wish to help out, take out project Olympus".

"How do Artemis and I do that?"

"Simple. After looking around the Maxicorp systems, I discovered that the company has a large research compound hidden under the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. I'll text the co-ordinates to you. All you'll need to do is find a way in."

"Will do. Oh, and Deathsroke?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks"

He never thought he'd say that.

"Don't mention it" The assassin replied before he hung up.

Impulse was left confused.

"Deathstroke sending me information. Why? Could this be a trap?"

A few seconds after, the screen on Impulse's phone lit up.

_One New Message._

Checking the message, Jacob found that it was indeed satellite co-ordinates.

"Well, There's only one way to find out" Impulse said to himself, selecting Artemis's phone number.

As it rang, he held it up to his ear.

Eventually, she picked up.

"Hi Impulse" said Artemis. "What's up?"

"Hi Artemis. Nothing much. I just needed to call you about something".

"What might that be, then?"

"Well, guess who I just received a call from"

"Who?"

"Deathstroke".

There was a silence before the almost inevitable reply of "What?!"

"According to him, a group of scientists, lead by a man called Maxwell Leighton, were the ones who created this world's version of Livewire in a research compound underneath the Bonneville salt flats. He's sent me co-ordinates to the base as well. Apparently, they're also working on something called Project Olympus. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't sound particularly friendly".

"I don't like the sounds of it" Artemis replied. "It sounds like a trap".

"There is a chance it could be a ruse, but there's really only one way to find out".

"Agreed. I'll meet you back on the roof of the Reserve Bank. Send the co-ordinates to me before you head off there. Oh, and don't forget to bring a shovel."

"Got it. See you there" Jacob replied before hanging up.

Just a few minutes after contacting Artemis, the two heroes found themselves wandering around the vast, empty space of the Bonneville Salt Flats, trying to find the exact co-ordinates that Deathstroke had sent, using a GPS that Artemis had recently acquired.

"The exact spot should be around here" Artemis said as they came closer to the exact co-ordinates.

Then, finally, the GPS beeped.

They had reached the exact location.

"We're here".

"Alright then" Impulse replied, readying his shovel. "I'll start digging. You look around and see if there's another way in".

As Artemis began looking around again, Impulse began to rapidly digging into the Salt flats, forming a nice downwards slope under the salt.

However, it wasn't too long before a sharp "clang!" came ringing out of the tunnel.

"I think I've found it!" the speedster called out.

As Artemis joined him, she could see what he was on about.

They looked down at a small square metal tunnel.

"I think you've found a ventilation shaft. That's odd, though, because I haven't seen any vents on the surface".

"Perhaps this leads to an A/C unit".

"Nevertheless, this is our best chance of quietly getting into the base".

"I'm way ahead of you".

Impulse then gently pushed the edge of his shovel into a small gap in the metal before gently pushing it away from it, causing the metal to bend. He then removed the shovel and pulled the metal back fully, revealing the inside of the vent.

"Ladies first" the speedster said to Artemis.

"Thank you, kind sir"

The two heroes then crawled into the vent shaft, hoping to be able to find the answers they were looking for.

Whilst Deathstroke had indeed been right about the secret base, the heroes initially struggled to find anything of note.

As they shuffled around in the vent shafts, all they saw out of the grates long, empty corridors and small laboratories with a couple of scientists, trash talking about their personal lives.

The two were trying to keep as low a profile as possible, so they decided to try and avoid confrontation.

"Urgh" Artemis groaned "how much more of this vent system is left?"

However, just as they began to continue onwards, they heard a door opening in the laboratory they were looking into.

Looking in, they saw a tall man in a black pinstripe suit meeting with a group of scientists.

"Is everything in order?" the man asked.

"Yes, Mister Leighton" one of the scientists replied. "Everything is ready. Project Olympus is ready to begin testing".

This caught the attention of the heroes.

"So Deathstroke wasn't lying" Artemis whispered.

"Okay, we know it's real. Now all we need to do is find out where they're holding it."

"On it" replied Artemis, pulling out her bow.

Suddenly, with an almighty whack, the grating they were looking through went flying off its hinges.

Artemis then fired anaesthetic arrows at the group, knocking them out almost instantly.

Once they were down, Impulse then went over to a nearby computer and began trying to find a way into it.

"What are you doing?" Artemis asked as Impulse was rapidly tapping away on the keys.

"Trying every possible password combination to get into the system" the speedster replied.

However, his efforts were rendered useless when the archer plugged her GPS into the computer and began to use a custom made program to hack the system.

"I want one of those" Impulse said to himself.

Finally though, they were in.

Immediately, they began looking through the system files for Project Olympus.

Very quickly, they came across one large word document.

**OLYMP_PROJ**

Whilst it was an encrypted file, Artemis was easily able to decipher it.

It read:

_November 9th 2017_

_Subject: Olympus progress_

_Dear, Mr Leighton._

_The Olympus Project is progressing quicker than estimated. Out of our test subjects, we have found the one with the right genetic make-up to be able to sustain our formula. The screening process for the formula was a paramount success and side effects within the subject are non-existent. Admittedly, this has created the conundrum of finding a way of controlling the subject's powers, but we have been able to find a solution. Details of the solution, along with the subject's profile are attached below._

_Sincerely,_

_Dr Simon Rothwell._

As the heroes checked through the document, the project finally revealed itself to them.

_Subject name: Rebecca Smaulders_

_Sex: Female_

_Age: 16_

_Race: Caucasian_

_Height: 5' 9''_

_Weight: 74 Kilograms_

_Hair colour: Blonde_

_Eye colour: Hazel_

_Blood Type: AB+_

_Upon the injection of the formula, the subject briefly began bleeding from her eyes. Fortunately, however, this ceased very quickly. Whilst the subject's behaviour proved to be sporadic to begin with, we found a way of being able to control her and her powers: a collar placed directly on the subject's neck allowed us to transmit the desired signals to her brain, giving us total control over her._

_Test 1: Endurance. Subject was placed on a treadmill and ordered to run as fast as possible for as long as she could. Subject ran for a total of five hours without rest before passing out. Top speed wasn't recorded, but was described by some of the lab associates as being "really freaking fast"._

_Test 2: A stack of ten ceramic tiles was placed in front of the subject. When ordered to punch through the stack, the subject did so immediately, easily smashing through the tiles._

_Test 3: The subject was ordered to crush a small Toyota Aygo hatchback with nothing more than her bare hands. This was achieved in exactly 26 seconds._

Impulse and Artemis were shocked. They now knew what the Olympus project was.

Maxicorp were trying to create an army of Amazonian warriors.

And they already had one.

"Right, enough monkeying around!" Impulse declared. "It's time we scrubbed Project Olympus before it gets even further off the ground. Artemis, can you bring up a schematic of this facility?"

Artemis didn't reply.

"Artemis?"

She was staring at the screen in shock.

On the screen was a snapshot of the girl described in the document.

"I-I know that girl" she said in shock. "She and I used to be in the same class together before I came to Chicago".

She grew angry.

"Those pigs will pay for what they've done to her!" She growled.

Angrily bashing on the keys, she brought up a map of the entire facility.

"If she's anywhere, she'll be down on the lowest level" Artemis said, downloading the map to her GPS and retrieving her arrows.

She then clambered onto Impulse's back and the two sped off down the corridor, with Artemis giving the speedster directions.

"Wait, what about stealth?"

"Forget stealth." Artemis replied. "We have to stop Olympus at all costs".

Surprisingly, they failed in raising any alarms as they reached a series of elevator shafts.

"Where the hell is everyone?"

"Perhaps they're all down on the lower level, watching Olympus in action".

As the two stepped into a waiting elevator, Impulse pressed a button, shutting the doors and sending it down to the deep level.

As they slowly descended, Impulse was still trying to decipher Artemis.

"So, you said that you and Rebecca were both in the same class at school."

"Yes"

"Where was your old high school, exactly?"

"Denver. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just wondering".

Whilst this wasn't much, this caused a small thought to appear in Impulse's mind.

"Could it really be…Nah. It couldn't be… Could it?"

However, there wasn't much more time to think about this as the elevator began to quickly slow down.

"This is it".

As the two readied themselves, the doors opened.

However, much to their surprise, they found the whole corridor ahead of them completely empty.

No footsteps were heard.

No conversations were going on.

Nothing.

Just an eerie silence.

"We'd better take this slowly" Impulse said quietly. "We don't know what could be waiting for us down here".

The two slowly stepped out of the elevator, carefully watching their surroundings for any kind of activity, with Artemis quickly notching an emergency arrow.

As they continued onwards, they still found nothing.

Suddenly, they heard the sounds of the elevator doors closing, causing them to both jump in surprise.

As the elevator began to return to the higher levels, an ominous voice came over the intercom.

"Impulse. Artemis. How nice of you two to join us".

It was Leighton.

"I thought you shot him with anaesthetic". Whispered Impulse

"I did." Artemis replied. "They must've found a way to wake him up".

"So, I guess I've got some explaining to do" continued Leighton. "Yes, it's true. We were the ones who created Project Volt. Or Livewire, as you call her. I must admit, though, I was actually pretty impressed when I found out that you'd defeated her on her first field test. But this time, though, you won't be anywhere near as lucky. The new order is on the eve of its creation. Seven billion cries of anguish will birth a brand new balance. Soon, even you two will understand. One glimpse at my new world and it will all start to make perfect sense. Unfortunately for you two, it's far too late. You're both going to die down here".

Then, suddenly, the duo heard the sound of footsteps coming from down the corridor.

Looking down to the far end, they froze.

Rebecca was staring them down from the other end of the corridor, with venom in her eyes.

There, on her neck, was the control collar.

"Crap" muttered Impulse.

"Well, I'd love to hang around and chat, but I've got things to do. Guess I'd better let you two make your introductions to Becky. Bye!" Leighton said, chuckling before the communication stopped.

The attention of the two heroes returned back to Becky, who was now slowly making their way towards them.

"So. What's our game plan?"

"I don't know, but I'm working on that. I say we'd best try and remove that collar from her".

At this moment, Becky started charging towards them.

Wanting to avoid getting into a combat with Becky, Artemis launched an arrow at her, trying to strike the collar.

The first one bounced off.

Another one.

That bounced off as well.

A third one.

Becky grabbed it in mid-air before hurling back towards them, the two dodging out of the way.

Anaesthetic arrow.

Becky stumbled for a bit, but quickly found her footing again and continued charging.

"Well, it's now or never" Impulse said before charging as fast as possible towards the girl.

However, as the speedster reached in to try and pull off the collar, Becky just grabbed hold of his hand and threw him over her shoulder.

Impulse quickly picked himself back up before charging back up to Becky, engaging in a fast paced one-on-one duel.

However, despite Impulse's greater speed and agility, Becky was able to continuously block each and every punch the speedster pulled.

Artemis, in the meantime, was trying to find a way to wirelessly disrupt the collar's frequency.

As she did so, Becky grabbed hold of Impulse's arm and kicked him in the chest before throwing him over her shoulder again.

"Wow." He said, clutching his ribs. "Tough cookie, isn't she?"

He winced.

"Oh god, I think she fractured one of my ribs. Is there any way we can break her out of that collar?"

"There is one way" Artemis replied. "The collar is currently being operated by means of high frequency radio waves, being projected from Leighton's office. If we can jam the signal, we should be able to remove the collar."

Artemis notched another arrow.

"You go. I'll hold her off".

"You sure about that, especially after the last time you faced down a metahuman?"

"Trust me, I'll be fine. Now go!"

Impulse had to agree, speeding off down the corridor, vibrating through the elevator doors before bolting up the elevator shaft to the top level of the facility.

Artemis braced herself.

"Alright then. BRING IT!" She yelled.

As the two charged towards each other, Artemis reacted at the last moment, sliding between Becky's legs, launching another arrow at her before getting back to her feet and engaging her in hand to hand combat.

Higher up in the facility, Leighton was sat at his desk, watching the battle between Becky and Artemis unfold.

Admittedly, he was surprised that Artemis was lasting this long against her.

Although, he was concerned as to the whereabouts of Impulse.

"Perhaps Impulse has accidently wandered into the atomic generators and is getting irradiated to death as I speak" he said to himself.

"Not exactly!" replied a voice from the other side of the door.

Suddenly, much to Leighton's horror, a blur of red and white came vibrating through the door.

Leighton tried to pull the gun out from under his desk, but Impulse easily dealt with him, landing him on the floor and placing a foot on the back of his head.

"Now then, how do I shut it off?" Impulse asked.

"W-What?"

"Becky's collar. How do I shut it off?" He asked again.

Leighton chuckled.

"Do you really think I'd tell a kid like you?"

Impulse punched Leighton on the pelvis, causing him to wince in pain.

"How many bones do I have to break to get you to spill?"

He began to press his foot hard against Leighton's head.

"Alright fine!" Blurted Leighton. "The collar is voice activated! The turn it off, you need to utter the word "Ares".

"Thanks." Impulse replied before landing a punch on the back of Leighton's head, knocking him out.

Impulse then vibrated back through the door before dashing back through the complex, down the elevator shaft and back down to the lowest level.

He was just in time to catch Artemis as she flew through the air.

"Found out how to shut it off?" she asked.

"Yes. Watch this" the speedster replied.

He then stood himself right in front of Becky.

As they stared each other down, Becky charged towards him.

However, as she did so, Impulse yelled out one word.

"ARES!"

Suddenly, Becky fell to the floor.

"Voice activated" Impulse explained.

As the two went over to Becky, the girl slowly picked herself back up.

This time, however, she seemed notably less hostile this time.

"Urgh. My head" she murmured, rubbing her head.

"It's okay. You're safe now" Impulse said to her.

The girl then looked up at the pair.

Her jaw dropped.

"Impulse? Artemis? What are you two doing here?"

"Simple. We're getting you out of here" Artemis replied. "Are there any other test subjects in the

base?"

"No. Just me"

"Alright then. We'd best get out of here, then".

"Not just yet" Becky said to the two. "Leighton is currently storing a huge supply of the formula which he and his men used to turn me into…this. We need to destroy the supply before we leave"

"Lead the way, then" Artemis replied, notching another arrow.

The three then bolted off down the corridor, with Becky easily pulling off her collar with her enhanced strength.

As they ran, they found dozens upon dozens of security guards located around the lower complex.

That being said, though, they were powerless to stop the three from charging through.

"It's in here" Becky told the duo as they reached a door marked "O4"

Becky ripped the door off its hinges as the three went inside.

The trio found themselves in a large room, devoid of people and items.

Except for one large vat, full of a strange green liquid.

"Is that it?"

"Yes. They injected me with some of that to give me my powers. If my genetic structure allowed my body to cope, I doubt I'm not the only one who is compatible. We need to destroy it before we leave".

"Is it flammable?"

"I believe so"

"On it" Artemis replied, notching an arrow and aiming it high in the air, twisting the head of the arrow slightly before launching it.

Then, as the arrow flew through the air, the tip of it was suddenly set alight.

It flew over the edge of the vat and into the mixture, causing it to catch fire.

"Good old incendiaries never let me down"

At this point, a siren began to blare.

"And that's our cue to leave"

The three then bolted out of the room and began heading to their exit point.

However, as they reached the end of the corridor, the elevator doors opened to reveal a whole horde of armed guards waiting for them.

But they were easily swept away like the last ones.

The three then piled into the elevator as they headed for the top level.

"So, do you know the way out?" Becky asked.

"Yes. We found a way into the ventilation shaft. We'll have to use that".

Once the elevator reached the top level, the trio continued running on, powering through any guards that tried to stop them.

They soon reached the room where they had ambushed Leighton the first time, squeezing into the ventilation shaft.

Finally, the trio managed to navigate their way out of the vent system and shuffled out of the hole, finding themselves standing back out on the salt flats, with Impulse clutching his shovel.

"So, what do you think of Leighton?" Impulse asked. "Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage or Maxwell Lord?"

"Definitely seems like Luthor in my books".

"Seems a bit like Savage to me".

"Well, Savage or not, we'll be ready if he comes calling".

Just then, Impulse was approached by Becky.

"Impulse, can I just say that it is a real honour to meet you" she said, shaking his hand.

"You too" she said to Artemis, shaking her hand.

"Hey, we're just happy to help" the archer replied. "So, how exactly did you end up in there, anyway?"

"Well, it's kind of clichéd, but here's how it went: I was out late at night, heading home from a party at my friend's house. I'd had a couple of drinks, but I wasn't particularly drunk. Anyway, I turned a corner when I noticed a suspicious black van parked nearby. Not wanting to wait around, I just kept on walking. However, when I was past, I heard the van fire up. Looking behind me as I walked, I saw that it was following me."

"I guess you ran at this point".

"Right. However, the van simply pulled up alongside as two guys in suits jumped out and held me down as another got out of the van and injected me with something, causing me to black out. When I woke up, I was in a holding cell in the base".

"Well then, I doubt you'll have to worry about that happening again with your new powers".

"That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about my family accepting me with these powers when I get back to Denver. I'm worried that they'll see me as a freak".

"Don't be like that" Impulse said to her. "You're one of only two…erm, three metahumans on the planet. That makes you unique in your own right. Besides, everyone will accept you for who you are if you use your powers for good".

Becky smiled.

"You know what, that's what I'll do. I'll become a defender of my own city, just like you two are for your own. Thanks".

"That's good to hear" Artemis said to her. "So what are you going to call yourself?"

Becky thought about this for a moment.

"I think I'll take a leaf out of your book".

"What have you in mind?"

"Call me…Wonder Girl"


	7. A Secret Never to be Told

**Chapter 7: A Secret Never to be Told**

_Two weeks later_

Not too long after Becky had returned to Denver, the news had been going crazy with stories about a young female superhuman helping to clean up the streets of Denver.

Whilst some where indeed anxious about the arrival of another superhuman, many were thrilled with the fact that there was another metahuman to defend the world if need be.

However, whilst all this was good, this wasn't what was on Jacob's mind at this moment.

What was on his mind, however, was one simple question: Just who the hell was Artemis?

He didn't intend to find out to tell anyone else, he just wanted to find out who she was.

He'd managed to garner a whole list of names as possible suspects, but had been unable to narrow them down.

"Hmm. No matter. I'll try to narrow them down when I get back". Jacob thought as he headed off to school.

Usually, he'd be having History, Maths, Science, Spanish and Religious Studies on a day like this.

However, things were different today.

To reward its students for the hard work they'd been doing, the school had organised a set of extra curricular activities, including archery, tennis and a whole plethora of activities, including an outdoor laser tag arena.

Needless to say, everyone was pretty happy to not be dragging through the ordinary school day.

Jacob, whilst indeed wanting to get back to his investigation into Artemis, just decided to drop everything for the moment as he and Amy immediately headed off to the archery range, deciding to leave the Laser Tag for last.

Whilst Jacob wasn't particularly good at archery, he could at least take comfort out of the fact that he wasn't the only one who was failing to get anywhere close to the centre of the target.

But then, as he looked over at Amy, he couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.

The way she loaded an arrow and aimed it down the range, making slight adjustments before landing the arrow right in the middle circle.

So much precision. So much elegance. So much...like _Artemis_.

"No. She can't be" Jacob thought to himself.

As he though, he watched as Amy notched another arrow, aiming it down the range.

However, just before launching the arrow, she accidentally ended up leaning back a bit too far, landing the arrow just above the circle.

Whilst Jacob thought this was just a mistake, the truth suddenly slapped him across the face.

She had deliberately missed to try and throw any watchers off her trail, without realising that he was watching her.

Jacob just shook his head and smiled.

"Clever girl" he said to himself.

* * *

><p>As the night eventually rolled in, Artemis soon found herself keeping watch over Chicago once again.<p>

Whilst she was okay with the fact that things had quietened down after the Maxicorp raid, she longed for another taste of action on the same scale as that.

She wondered how Becky was doing in Denver.

Judging by some of the news reports she'd seen, Wonder Girl seemed to be getting on just fine.

Her attention soon returned back to Chicago.

However, it wasn't too long before her attention drifted away again.

People would probably say that a true hero or heroine would never lose focus.

But Artemis wasn't a proper "true heroine". She was a teenager.

She started thinking about her school life.

She knew she didn't have very many friends, but she couldn't care less.

Besides, the friends she had were the best people for her to be around (asides from her brother), especially this one boy she had a thing for.

She thought about him for a moment.

"I wonder what he's doing now" she muttered to herself.

"He's in your fridge, eating your food" a voice replied suddenly.

Artemis jumped out of shock.

As she span round, she found Impulse standing behind her.

"Jesus Christ, why the hell did you do that?!"

"Because you look so cute when scared to death" Impulse replied.

"Well, you nearly made me crap myself. I hope you're happy".

"Yes. I aim to please. Anyway, how are things?"

"Fine thanks. There's just nothing for me to do at the moment and I'm just thinking about what's been going on with my personal life. You see, there's this one guy I like. Him and I have been hanging out for a while, but I'm just unable to bring up the courage to kiss him".

"Oh, I know that feeling...Amy"

The next thing Impulse knew, he was lying on the ground, with Artemis angrily pointing an arrow at him.

"How do you know my name?" She demanded "SPEAK!"

Impulse knew he could just speed away in a split second, but decided not to.

"Let's just say, I decided to put my detective skills to the test and you came up as my prime suspect for Artemis."

Aiming her bow away from him slightly, Artemis studied Impulse, trying to figure him out.

"Who are you?" she asked.

This made Impulse think. Would he really reveal his identity to her?

He thought hard about this before finally coming to a decision.

Slowly, Impulse reached up and unfastened his goggles before pulling them down, revealing who he truly was.

Artemis's jaw dropped.

"J-Jacob?"

"Yep. Hi, Amy".

Impulse shut his eyes, expecting either an arrow or a slap to the face.

However, he then heard the sound of Amy chuckling.

As he opened his eyes, Amy lowered the bow and placed the arrow back into the quiver.

"I freaking knew it"

As Impulse sat up, Artemis sat down next to him, removing a small communicator from her ear and placing it in one of her pockets.

"So when did you find out it was me?"

"This morning, actually, when we were doing the archery. I looked over at you and thought "Wow. Amy does archery just like Artemis. Hey, wait a minute...!""

Artemis couldn't help but laugh at this.

"It was the faked miss, wasn't it?"

"Yep"

* * *

><p><em>The Basement of McLure Motors<em>

"Artemis, I've just come across something big. Are you there?"

Nothing.

"Artemis, talk to me please".

Nothing.

"Amy, this is Robert. Come in".

Still nothing.

"You know what, screw it" Robert McLure said to himself, pulling off his headset and stepping away from the computer before heading over to a small box in the corner and gently opening it, revealing the contents inside.

"I knew it would only be a matter of time" he said to himself as he pulled the costume on.

* * *

><p>"Tell me. What led you to become who you are? What gave you your powers?"<p>

Impulse thought about this for a moment, remembering the vague details about the lab accident.

"Well, my father was experimenting with quantum mechanics, trying to build a special transport gateway as a quick way of travel. However, when my sister and I turned up to see the first trial run, it malfunctioned. I'm still not sure what gave me my powers: the burst of energy from the gateway that hit me or the chemicals that were spilled over me after I was launched back. But went into that lab as a normal human and I came out as something else. What about you?"

Artemis sighed, thinking about her past.

The speedster could tell that it was hard for her to think about it.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Amy".

"N-No. I'll say. It'll be best if I get it off my chest".

She sighed again before starting off on her story.

"You see, Jacob, I've never always been a heroine. In fact, at one time, I was no better than the scum we scrape off the streets every night".

Impulse was shocked at hearing this revelation. Yet at the same time, he could be relieved that she had removed herself from that dark place.

"When I was back in my home town of Atlanta, I was part of a group of highly dangerous criminals, alongside my mum, my dad, my brother and a friend of the family. We specialised in high stakes robbery and assassinations. That's how I knew the Dark Mambas: We often worked alongside them, including the four assassins. Some would call our five man team "The Fearsome Five". Others would call us "The Five Fates".

She looked over at the speedster.

"You'd probably call us "The Royal Flush Gang"".

"So what happened? Why did you leave?"

Jacob could tell that this was what hurt Amy the most.

Yet she just swallowed her pain and continued.

"Well, my parents always called the shots on the team. Anything they ordered, we'd have to do. The thing is though, if we did something well, it would be shrugged off fairly soon. Yet if we did something wrong, they would chastise my brother and I for days after. Him and I had to put up with this for years until things all came to a head. We were on a mission in Azerbaijan. Our mission was to steal roughly $95 million dollars from the Oil sheiks there. Things were going well, until I made a small mistake with estimating how long it would be until one of the sheiks would be arriving in Baku. I was only off by a few seconds, but my father just started having a massive go at me, claiming that I was useless".

"That caused you to leave the team?"

"Yes, but not before driving an arrow through his leg. In fact, that little act on my part also inspired my brother's decision to join me in leaving. Once we arrived back at our house in Atlanta, we the two of us looted the house of as much cash as we could find before leaving. Since then, we've been travelling around, looking for a way of properly repaying for what we've done. We were in Denver when we first heard the news of a red and white clad superhuman up here. We knew that heading up here and fighting alongside you would be our best chance at redemption. So we bought a small property, my brother set up a car dealership as a way of making money and covering up our operations and I took up the identity of Artemis. After a few nights of looking around, we heard the news from one of our inside contacts that the Dark Mambas had hired four assassins to take you down. After searching around for you, I spotted you getting attacked by Lady Shiva and, like they say, the rest is history."

Artemis sighed shakily, looking over at Jacob.

"I'm sorry, Jacob, but I just didn't want you to hate me for who I was" she said, a tear falling from her eye.

Jacob smiled.

"Why would I hate you for what you were? Sure, you did some bad things in the past, but you're making up for that by being a heroine. It's not what you were that makes a difference, but it's what you are".

"You *sniff* don't hate me?"

"Certainly not".

Artemis smiled a shaky smile.

"Thank you" she said happily.

As Artemis felt another tear fall down her face, she and the speedster embraced.

Once Artemis had calmed down, the two broke the hug, leaving the two heroes sitting close to one another.

"So, this other guy you mentioned that you liked" Impulse said. "Who might he be?"

Artemis chuckled.

Impulse had no idea.

"Well, he's charming…" Artemis began. "...Smart, courteous and actually looks quite cute in a jumpsuit."

Impulse still couldn't figure it out.

"I'm still unsure, could you elaborate, please?"

Artemis chuckled, shaking her head.

"Men" she thought to herself.

"Well, close your eyes" she said to Impulse.

The speedster shut his eyes.

Suddenly, Artemis placed her hands on his cheeks, shut her eyes and pulled the speedster in before landing a lingering kiss on his lips.

Impulse's eyelids burst open in shock.

This was his first ever kiss and he was sharing it with another vigilante.

It felt strange.

It felt fantastic.

He soon shut his eyes and returned the kiss.

"Do you two need some time to yourselves?" Asked a voice.

The two jumped in surprise, quickly breaking the kiss.

As the two looked in the direction from which the voice came, they spotted a tall figure hiding in the shadows.

Impulse quickly snapped his goggles back onto his face.

Artemis sighed, shaking her head.

"Typical. You spend all night back at base and when you do come out, it's during a personal moment".

"Hey, you weren't answering your communicator"

Artemis realised this, putting her communicator back in her ear.

"Wait, do you two know each other?" Impulse asked, confused.

"Oh yeah" Artemis said. "Impulse, I'd like you to meet my brother".

The figure then stepped out of the shadows, revealing who he was.

He was a young man, perhaps a couple of years older than Impulse, with greasy black hair.

He wore an all too familiar black jumpsuit with a small blue bird emblem on the chest and a black domino mask on his face.

Nightwing.

Impulse's jaw dropped.

"N-Nightwing?! Your brother is Nightwing?!"

"You were expecting Red Arrow?"

"A bit, yeah" Impulse replied, shaking his hand. "So why haven't I seen you around until now?"

"Well, I mainly stayed back at base, sending intel through to my sister. In fact, this is the first time I've ever properly worn this costume. But yeah, I kind of like it".

"So anyway, why did you need to contact me?" Artemis asked.

Nightwing thought about this for a moment.

"Oh yeah!" He said, remembering what he needed to tell Artemis about. "I was just piecing together the intel when I discovered that Maxicorp is shipping in another batch of that substance that gave Becky her powers."

"What for?"

"I'm not sure yet, but it's probably no good. If we can intercept the transport, we can study the substance and find out what it is".

"Well, if you two are planning on taking them down, them I'm going with you" Impulse added.

"Thanks. We'll need the help".

"I'd better fill you in" Nightwing said to the speedster. "Artemis, you fire up the batmobile".

"Roger"

As she went off, leaping over the buildings, Impulse couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"You have a batmobile?"

"Our own version, yes".

"Cool. So anyway, what intel have you collected?"

"Well, after you, Artemis and Wonder Girl destroyed the formula in the Maxicorp labs in Utah, Leighton ordered for the shipment of even more of the formula in from the Maxicorp labs in Greenland. We don't know the exact amount, but as far as I can tell, it's a lot".

"So what's the plan?"

"Simple. We're going to try and catch up with the convoy. More than likely, it's going to be escorted by armed guards, so once we've taken them down, we'll hijack the shipment."

"We'll also need to take a sample of the formula for analysis".

"Good idea. Oh, and one more little bit to mention. Just a few hours ago, we heard reports of the convoy coming under attack from an unknown assailant who made off with one of the tankers".

"So a civilian could now have the formula?"

"Maybe. We'll look into that, but for now, we need to take down that convoy".

Just then, they heard the sound of a revving engine pulling up below.

Looking down, Impulse spotted an all black Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder below, with Artemis at the wheel.

"That's your Batmobile?"

"It is indeed".

"Nice".

Nightwing grappled from rooftop to rooftop before eventually landing in the passenger seat.

Impulse just sped down the side of the building before pulling up alongside the Lambo.

"So, are we good to go?"

"Not just yet" Artemis replied. "I've called in a friend from...out of town".

"You called?" Asked a familiar voice overhead.

As they looked up, an all too familiar young girl was hovering over their heads, wearing red track pants, blue trainers and a black sleeveless t-shirt streaked with two yellow streaks on it, shaped like a bird, with a home made lasso tied to her track pants.

She was also equipped with two metal bracelets.

"Glad to see you could make it, Wonder Girl".

"Hey, providing that its something that can mess up those jerks at Maxicorp, I'm in".

"That's good to hear" Nightwing replied. "If my timing is right, the convoy should be about to head into Minnesota".

"Lets do this thing!"

With that, Nightwing leapt into the drivers seat of the Lambo as Artemis shuffled across to the passenger seat before flooring the accelerator and speeding out of the city, with Impulse and Wonder Girl following alongside.

* * *

><p><em>Roughly an hour later<em>

"Are we there yet?"

"Again, no".

"But you said they were in Minnesota".

"Hey, Minnesota might not be Texas, but its still a large place. Which is precisely why I told Impulse to run on ahead and look for the convoy".

Just then, they heard a whooshing noise getting rapidly closer.

"Oh, he's coming back".

On cue, Impulse pulled up alongside the Lamborghini.

"Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we're in luck. The convoy is stopped just a few miles away at a nearby gas station. Just take the next left and continue on from there".

The four continued on, following the route that Impulse had told them.

Very soon, they found that Impulse was right as they screeched to a halt just out of view.

There, parked in the gas station was what appeared to be a large tanker, surrounded by military trucks and armed guards.

Whilst the driver of the tanker was busy refuelling, some of the guards were busy hanging around the station, taking a break.

"So how do you suppose we do this?"

"Simple." Nightwing replied, turning off the Lamborghini and clambering out. "We hit them hard and we hit them fast".

"I couldn't put it better myself!" Becky replied, immediately leaping into the air and hovering over the gas station before dropping down.

_CRUNCH!_

She crushed the entire truck under her own strength.

The guards, obviously surprised by the sudden attack, levelled their weapons and began firing at Wonder Girl.

However, Becky effortlessly deflected the bullets away with her bracelets.

The other three heroes then took this opportunity to attack, joining Wonder Girl with the ongoing battle.

Needless to say, the battle was pretty one sided, with the four easily steaming through the armed guards.

However, as this went on, Nightwing spotted the tanker driver rapidly clambering into the tanker's cab.

"Oh no you don't!" Nightwing said, throwing a wingding in the driver's direction, stunning him.

This then gave Nightwing enough time to pull the tanker driver out of the cab and easily render him unconscious.

Very soon, the entire gas station was clear, with the guards lying unconscious on the ground.

"YEAH! Are we good or what?" Artemis yelled out, high fiving Impulse.

The attention of the four heroes soon went over to the tanker.

"So how are we getting this back to base without drawing the attention of Maxicorp?"

"Leave that to me" Wonder Girl replied, walking up to the tanker before reaching down to grab the underside of the tanker and lifting it up over her head.

"Er, will you still be wanting my help at the moment?" Impulse asked.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine" Nightwing replied. "Besides, it'll take a while before I can properly get a good looking over this formula".

"Alright then".

He then went over to Artemis.

"Well my dear, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow. Would you like a lift back?"

"No thanks. I'll just pinch a ride from my brother".

"Very well then".

He and Artemis then shared a little kiss on the lips.

"Well, I've got to run" Impulse said to the others as he and Artemis broke the kiss. "It's been great working with you three. See you soon!" He added before disappearing down the road.

"Hey Artemis, since when are you and Impulse a couple?" Asked a confused Wonder Girl.

Artemis sighed dreamily.

"Since a couple of hours ago" she replied.

* * *

><p>"Good evening, this is Denise Williams reporting. As the popularity in superheroes increases, it appears that Pittsburgh now has a hero of its own. Just last night, the police received an anonymous tip about a large drug operation located in a derelict part of the city. However, when police officers arrived at the designated location, they found eight men, all known drug dealers, tied up and unconscious. When awoken and questioned, one of the dealers revealed that they had been attacked by a masked vigilante in a red and black costume, calling himself "Robin", a name carried by the young ward of the legendary comic superhero Batman. Only a couple of hours later, police received a call relating to an attempted break in. However, when they arrived, they found the suspect hanging upside down from a nearby tree, unconscious. When asked, a member of the public stated that they had seen a vigilante slip into the house not too long after hearing a crashing sound. After a few minutes of silence, the bystander then saw the vigilante come out of the house, dragging the unconscious suspect out with him. The city's police commissioner, Janelle Witherspoon, has now called for the arrest of the vigilante, upon charges of assault".<p>

"Whilst it may be true that this young vigilante is trying to uphold the law, which is indeed admirable, he is also breaking it to do this, which is why we need to bring Robin in before any more copycats appear. I know that they accept heroes like this out in Chicago, but that's Chicago. This is Pittsburgh".

"So far, we have been unable to contact "Robin" for his opinion on this..."

As the news report went on, Impulse couldn't help but smile.

He immediately knew who Robin was.

"Barry, you slick devil".


	8. Vendetta

**Chapter 8: Vendetta**

James and Stuart were both happy for their third stooge when they found out that he and Amy were now a couple.

The two had actually said for a while that the first one of the three to get a girlfriend would indeed be Jacob, so they had been expecting it slightly, what with him and Amy often walking home together, but they were still happy for the two.

Yet at the same time, they couldn't help but feel just a little jealous.

"Oh well. We'll find our first girlfriends soon enough" they'd said to each other.

They soon found themselves sat down at lunch, waiting for the arrival of Jacob, who was busy relieving himself at the time.

However, as they tucked into their packed lunches, Stuart thought of something.

"Hey James, I just realised something".

"What?"

"Firstly, Impulse shows up, then three assassins, matching the descriptions of Shiva, Deadshot and Firefly, appear, then Livewire appears, then Wonder Girl appears in Denver and now Nightwing and Robin have both appeared".

"What are you trying to say".

"What I'm trying to say is that I think this world might slowly be turning into the very same world from our comics. The main question I'm asking is this: how long will it be before a Justice League shows up?"

"You mean, you're expecting there to also be a Kryptonian, a Martian and an Atlantean, along with at least one Green Lantern to show up?"

"Okay, maybe those will take some time, but so far, there are Impulse, Wonder Girl and Nightwing, who could easily go on to become The Flash, Wonder Woman and Batman. Besides, it's possible for someone to have the power of super strength and super speed, so that's already laid the grounds for Superman".

"I'll give you that".

However, the sound of commotion soon came into the room, with the talk of "birds and football".

As James and Stuart looked over, Duncan and two other jocks made their way to a table not too far away.

"Oh great. It's numbskulls one, two and three." James muttered, angrily staring at them.

"God I hate those jerks".

"Likewise".

However, as James watched, Duncan quickly glanced around the room before noticing that James was angrily staring at him.

As he and his friends began to make their way over to him, James's eyes darted away from them.

"Crap, he's coming this way".

"Were you looking in his direction?"

"Yes. Sorry".

"Should we go?"

"That would be a good idea, yes".

Quickly, yet calmly, James and Stuart packed their lunches away before getting up and making their way out of the cafeteria.

"Hey, don't run away" Duncan called out to them as he and his friends tailed them. "We just wanna give you swirlies until you're tasting toilet water for the next month".

"Charming"

"Run?"

"RUN!"

The two then took off down the corridor, with the three jock running after them.

Everyone else in the cafeteria just continued as if nothing had happened.

Fortunately for James and Stuart, however, Amy, who had been waiting in the lunch line, had seen all and was concerned for their safety.

There was no way they'd be able to hold their own against those three.

Not without some help, at least.

Quickly, she pulled out her phone and typed out a message to Jacob.

_James & Stu need help. Duncan is chasing them._

Just a couple of seconds after Amy had sent the message, she received a reply.

_Impulse on way ;)_

She then heard the faint sound of whooshing in the distance.

Amy then bolted down the corridor after them.

Further down the corridor, James and Stuart were both trying to lose Duncan. His two friends had peeled off down another corridor, but they knew that they were trying to cut them off.

"Why have they got to be like this?" Stuart asked as they ran.

"Because the world needs people like him so that everybody else can point their fingers at them and go "those guys are colossal douches"". James replied.

However, as they rounded a corner, they soon found themselves stuck in a dead end, with Duncan on one side and his two friends on the other.

"Well, if the worst comes to the worst, it's been an honour living through this hellish experience with you" Stuart said to his friend.

"Likewise" James replied.

"Now, there's two ways we can go about this" Duncan said to them. "There's the easy way, where you surrender and we stick your heads in the toilets, or there's the hard way, where you two try and hold us off, only to have us beat you two down and then stick your heads in the toilets".

"Or there's the Impulse way, where I beat you three down and let the two kids go" added a voice.

All five turned to face the voice.

Much to their surprise, Impulse himself was standing before them.

"Okay" James said to himself. "Mustn't fanboy. I mustn't fanboy. I must. Not. Fanboy...but OH MY GOD IT'S IMPULSE! AAAAAAHHHH!"

Duncan and his friends saw this as a moment to crush James's and Stuart's hopes and dreams.

"Well well." Duncan muttered, cracking his knuckles as he and his friends started walking over to the speedster. "Look what the cat dragged in".

"You know, there's quite a lot of people I despise. Thugs. Crime bosses. Perverts. But in all my time as a superhero, there's one kind of people I've always thought to be the most pathetic: bullies like you three."

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it? You look like you couldn't life a-"

_POW!_

Duncan was cut off as Impulse landed a rock hard punch to his face, knocking out a tooth.

This was then swiftly followed up by multiple machine gun like punches to the face before Impulse landed a hard kick to the face, rendering Duncan unconscious.

The second jock tried to land a punch across Impulse's face, but the speedster simply dodged it before knocking him down and landing one long, fast paced knuckle sandwich on his crotch.

Once he had finished, Impulse then looked over at the final jock with an expression that said "do you really want to mess with me?"

With that, the last jock just ran off, screaming.

Impulse cracked his fingers.

"Nine seconds. Not bad, but I could do better".

Suddenly, he was caught off guard by Stuart, madly shaking his hand.

"Can I just say that it's a real honour to meet you" he said happily as James shook the other hand.

"Hey, it's always nice to help out the little guy, particularly a fan" Impulse replied as he broke the handshakes. "Anyway, I'd love to hang around and chat, but I've got work to do. See ya"

Impulse bolted away just as Amy arrived.

"Guys, are you alright?" she asked, running over to them. "And was that Impulse running away just then?"

"OHMYGODYOUWILLNOTBELIEVEITBUTWEWERERUNNINGBUTWEWERETRAPPEDHEREBYTHOSETHREEBUTTHENIMPULSESHOWEDUPANDKICKEDTHEREASSES!" Yelled James, flapping his arms and freaking out.

"What was that about Impulse?" Asked Jacob as he arrived on the scene.

"Dude, where were you? Impulse just left" Stuart asked.

"Taking care of business. If I'd known Impulse had been here, I would've arrived sooner".

"If only he could've stuck around longer. I would've asked him if he'd wanted to stay for lunch".

"Anyway, where were we?"

As the four headed back to the lunch hall, Amy and Jacob shared a discreet high five.

* * *

><p><em>The Following day<em>

The news of Impulse's sudden appearance had rippled around the school.

Whilst James and Stuart were often the kind of people who were lost in the background, for once, they were the centres of attention, as people were approaching from all sides, wondering what it was like to see Impulse in action first hand.

The two would usually end up giving the same answer each time:

"Yeah, it's pretty freaking cool".

As he opened his locker and sorted out his stuff, he couldn't help but think that he'd reached a whole new level of power, having snuck out of school, put on his costume, returned to school, beaten the crap out of two of the jocks, returned home, removed his costume and returned to school as if nothing had happen, all in less that fifty seconds.

He smiled.

"Impulse, my friend, the way you're going, you're going to end up breaking the light barrier in the future" he thought to himself.

However, once he closed his locker and turned around, he found a large wall of a person blocking his way.

He looked up.

Duncan Smith looked considerably worse for wear. After "Hurricane Impulse" had struck, he had been left with one black eye, a broken nose, a bruised jaw bone, three missing teeth and multiple bruises.

Jacob could tell by the look on his face that he thought that Jacob and Impulse were one and the same.

"S'up squirt?"

"Oh nothing much" Jacob replied. "Just another boring day of school ahead, so-"

Duncan bashed his fist against the lockers, getting all up in Jacob's face.

"Don't try and act all innocent, nerd" he growled. "I know where you were at lunch yesterday. I know you're that little...freak, Impulse!"

Jacob was the only one who properly knew he was right, but decided to keep his cool.

"And how, pray tell, did you come to that conclusion?" He asked, humouring him.

"Because you look just like him, with the short hair and everything".

Jacob scoffed.

"Jock logic at its finest. Look around you, Smith. There are multiple people here who fit his physical profile".

"What's going on?" Amy asked, arriving on the scene.

"This guy seems to think that I'm Impulse".

"What?! That just stupid"

"My thoughts exactly"

"Well, what would you know, girlie?"

"Not much on the subject, but I do know this: you're just jealous".

This made Duncan go red in the face.

"I am not jealous" he growled, turning his ire to Amy. "Why would I be jealous of him? I'm clearly much taller, stronger, better looking-"

"Whilst he's smarter, kinder, **_MUCH_** faster and considerably more famous than you. Plus, let's not forget the fact that he beat your ass down yesterday" Amy replied, unflinching. "Face it, Smith: You're just jealous and you know it. Now do yourself a favour: Grow up".

Jacob and Amy then headed off down the corridor, leaving a red faced Duncan standing there.

He would never stop. Impulse had humiliated him in his own kingdom and now, he wouldn't rest until he'd had his revenge.

But how he'd do that was difficult to decide on.

"Oh well. If you need to beat a nerd like this, I've got to think like a nerd" he thought to himself.

* * *

><p><em>McLure Motors<em>

Whilst having a muscle car dealership open between 9 and 5 meant a severe lack of visitors, Robert had discovered one positive aspect of it: more free time to do his own things.

While waiting to see if any customers would eventually turn up, he often found himself playing video games, surfing the web, eating snacks or just lazily spinning around in his chair.

At the same time, he often headed down to the basement to see how his supercomputer was doing with trying to understand what made up the formula, which he had now named "Mirakuru", in honour of "Arrow", his favourite TV show.

So far, the computer had been unable to break down the substance and analyse what it was made from, but it had been able to properly identify what it did.

As far as he could tell, the effects of the formula depended on the genetic structure of the person using it. To most, it would essentially be a poison. However, for those it wasn't deadly to, it would leave them with a different power. Some would be left with super strength, others with invisibility and so on. Some could even be left with more than one power.

However, before Robert could properly inspect the results, the phone rang.

He went over to it and answered.

"Hello, McLure Motors. How can I help you?"

"Hello Robert" A gravely voice replied.

He froze.

"Oh. Hello, Deathstroke. It's been a while".

"Isn't it always?"

"Anyway, what do you want? There has to be some reason you called at this time".

"Well firstly, I know about what you and Amy get up to at night...Nightwing".

Robert froze with fear.

"How do you...?"

"I've seen you two growing up for far too long to forget about what you've been through. I also happen to know that you're working alongside Impulse and Wonder Girl"

"You wouldn't dare..."

Deathstroke chuckled.

"Don't worry. I'm not planning on ratting you two out. You're good kids. Besides, I hate Maxicorp as much as you guys. The Dark Mambas as well. They've betrayed my trust one too many times. Anyway, the main reason why I've called is about a little something I discovered. In your inbox is a message, with an audio file attached. I couldn't get the entire file, as I was having issues with the decryption, but what I've sent you is enough".

"I'll check it out. Thanks"

"Don't mention it".

As he hung up, Robert swiftly sat himself down at his computer, logging in to his email account.

There, in his inbox was one single message.

_**Subject: Urgent!**_

As he opened it up, there was no text or anything like that.

Just one lone audio file.

Not wanting to be overheard if anyone came in, he plugged his headphones into the computer and clicked on the audio file.

It was only a few seconds in length, but it contained enough information to leave Robert in shock.

Once it had ended, he was left sitting in silece for a few moments before uttering three words.

"Oh. My. God"

* * *

><p><em>The Audio File<em>

**Leighton: **It's me again

**"The Boss": **Ah, Mister Leighton. It's good to hear from you again.

**Leighton: **Likewise. So, how goes the preparation for Operation: Hellstorm?

**"The Boss": **Preparations have almost finished. We've managed to assemble a 45,000+ strong army of Dark Mamba muscle from around the world, including my own personal assassin, should those heroes show up. How about those two projects you and your cohorts are working on?

**Leighton: **Admittedly, we have suffered a setback, with one of our convoys coming under attack from the heroes. Thankfully however, the two projects are almost complete, with Project Atlantis just about wrapping up before we can test it. I mean, hell, we've already finished work on Project Krypton. Admittedly, it is missing some of the desired powers of its inspiration, but according to the other scientists, they should appear over time.

**"The Boss": **That's good to hear. So, just a matter of a few days, then.

**Leighton: **Oh yes. Chicago won't know what hit it until its ours.


	9. Into the Hellstorm

**Chapter 9: Into the Hellstorm**

Needless to say, when Impulse and Artemis found out that the Dark mambas were working with Maxicorp, they were pretty shocked.

But at the same time, this also explained why Maxicorp would go out of their way to create metahumans: to take them down so that they and their allies could take control of the city virtually unchallenged.

However, whilst they'd seemingly got most fronts covered, they'd forgotten to include what would happen when the military tried to intervene (although they'd probably use their two projects to sort them out).

There was only one problem: no matter how much information they tried to unearth, they found nothing on a launch day for "Operation Hellstorm", asides from "a few days". As far as they could tell, this meant that the attack could begin at any moment.

Over the course of the following week, they'd tried everything to find more evidence. They'd searched everywhere, from the rough ends of Chicago, to the Maxicorp base under the salt flats.

Here's what they found: Nothing.

Not even a single file they could use.

However, whilst there was nothing they could do in the time being, they could easily decide on a course of action.

"Constant vigilance", as Nightwing put it. "Keep your eyes open and ears to the ground, so that when the attacks do come round, we can be ready".

They'd also decided to keep Wonder Girl on high alert in the event of the attack, so that she could head out to Chicago as soon as possible.

With these words of advice, Amy and Jacob soon found themselves sitting through another mundane school day, keeping their eyes out for any sign of trouble.

However, whilst the attack was their main priority, there was one other thing that they had noticed.

Over the course of the week, Duncan had been appearing less and less until he'd stopped appearing all together.

Amy and Jacob couldn't care less about this, however.

As for the day itself, it progressed just like any other, yet the duo couldn't help but feel a certain eeriness about everything.

The calm before the storm.

And eventually, the storm came around.

During final period maths, as Jacob was sat by the window, trying to work out a group of set questions about quadratics, he heard the sound of screeching tyres out front.

Looking out the window, he saw a group of four black vans all parked outside.

Realising who they were, he looked over at Amy, who realised who they were as well.

They both nodded at each other.

Jacob put up his hand.

"Yes, Jacob?" asked the teacher.

"Can I please go to the bathroom?"

"Very well, but be quick about it".

As Jacob got up and began heading out of the classroom, Amy quickly sent a message to both Nightwing and Wonder Girl.

_They're here._

As dozens of men filed out of the van and began setting up equipment, Jacob soon made his way to the bathroom.

However, instead of locking himself in a cubicle and taking care of business, he clambered out of the window and bolted off towards his house, so that he could change into his costume.

As Jacob left the school grounds, the armada of men came swarming in through the front doors, bristling with weapons and wearing black ski masks on their faces.

"LOOK ALIVE, DIRTBAGS!" One of them yelled as he and and a few other came swarming into Amy's class, firing a few shots into the air, cuasing a few people to scream in fright. "THIS CITY BELONGS TO US!"

The students and even the teacher hid under their desks for safety.

All except one: Amy.

She rose from her desk and stood facing the thugs.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I think you'll find that this city will never be yours. Not now, not ever".

The thug smirked.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Are you going to stop us? Is that what you're gonna do, kid?"

Amy then heard the faint sound of whooshing, getting rapidly closer.

"Oh, I'm not" She said before pointing towards the door "But what about him?"

As the group of men looked over, Impulse came speeding into the classroom in a blur of red and white before quickly rendering the men unconscious with swift punches to the face.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE OUT!" Impulse said to the students as they swiftly evacuated. "THIS CITY IS GOING TO BECOME A BATTLEFIELD PRETTY SOON!"

As they evacuated, Impulse began bolting from classroom to classroom, taking down any thugs he happened to come across.

At last, the school has been completely cleared of thugs.

As Impulse did one quick check over of the place, he was greeted by Amy.

"Need a lift?"

"Why thank you". Amy replied as Impulse scooped her up before bolting off to McLure Motors.

As the duo headed through the doors, round the back and down into the basement, Nightwing and Wonder Girl were already waiting for them.

"Okay, so what's the situation?"

"Well, its as bad as you might be thinking. Pretty much, the city has been completely overrun with these goons. The reserve bank has been locked down, the train station has been locked down, pretty much everything has been locked down".

"How many do you think there are?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to guess...around 60,000. Maybe even more".

"What about the police? Can't they do anything?"

"They're trying to, but they're currently under attack at the police station".

"Well then, we know where we're heading".

"TO THE BATMOBILE!"

As Impulse bolted out of the building, with Wonder Girl flying after him, Amy quickly changed into Artemis before she and Nightwing clambered into the Lamborghini and sped off, following the two.

When they soon arrived at the police station, they were greeted by a scene of utter chaos: the police station was locked in a turf war of its own, with the police were firing on the criminals, trying to push through, but the amount of criminals that were blocking the way and returning fire was enough to make them slowly fall back.

Even the SWAT team was having trouble.

Everything swung in favour of the police when the four heroes dived into combat.

It took just a couple of minutes before the AK47-wielding thugs were lying unconscious on the ground.

"Don't worry, the guys are unconscious now" Nightwing called out to the officers as they cautiously emerged from within cover. "Where's the Commissioner?"

Commissioner Drummond quickly emerged from cover when he recognised the four.

"Thank god. Any longer and we might have been toast".

"Don't mention it. Besides, we could use all the help we can get if we want to take back this city."

"So what's the plan?"

However, as they were about to discuss, Impulse then realised something.

"Hey, what's the time?"

Everyone looked at him as if he'd just drooled down his jumpsuit.

"What?"

"Can I have the time please?"

"Impulse, the whole city is enveloped in a turf war and you want to know the time?" Asked Wonder Girl, exasperatedly.

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing"

The commissioner shrugged his shoulders and checked his watch.

"3:12" he replied.

"Alrighty then. I'll be back as quickly as possible"

"Wait, where are you going?" Nightwing asked. "We need you here"

"Pittsburgh. Getting reinforcements" Impulse replied before bolting over the fence and out of the city.

However, the three remaining heroes then realised were he was going.

Their attention then returned to trying to formulate a battle plan.

However, as they did so, they failed to notice a shadowy figure keeping an eye on them from the rooftops nearby.

As he watched, he spoke into a radio.

"Overlord, this is Codename: Merlyn. I have a positive ID on the targets."

* * *

><p>Barry Knowles couldn't believe what he was seeing.<p>

As he sat on the end of his bed, watching the battle of Chicago unfold, somewhere in the back of his mind, he hoped that he could go over there and do something about it.

If he was a speedster, he would've been over there before anyone could say "homework".

But the thing is, he wasn't a speedster.

In fact, he didn't have any powers.

He was Robin.

If his parents were away for at least six hours, he would've hopped into the car and driven off to help.

But they were only away for three, meaning he was powerless to do anything.

As he watched the battle unfold, he thought about Jacob, James and Stuart.

"Knowing them, they're probably leading his own four-men assault against the enemy" he said to himself.

"Well, that might be the case for at least one of them, Robin". Replied a voice.

Jumping in surprise, Barry looked in the direction from where the voice came from.

There, perched on the outside window ledge, was Impulse.

As the speedster vibrated his way into the room, Barry stared in awe before squeezing out three words.

"Oh. My. God".

He then leapt off his bed before shaking Impulse's hand madly.

"Let me just say, that it's a real honour to meet you! I've followed all your work in Chicago and you're what inspired me to become Robin and-"

He stopped when he realised something.

"Wait, how the hell did you know I was Robin?"

Impulse chuckled.

"You and I go way back, Barry. When I first caught wind that a vigilante was patrolling Pittsburgh, I immediately knew off the bat it was you".

Barry then had an incredible thought.

He smiled.

"Is that you, Jacob?"

He smiled before peeling off his goggles.

"Highest marks. But look, this isn't the main reason why I've dropped by. My friends and I are currently trying to take back the city, but we need all the help we can get. So, are you up for it?"

Barry was struggling to comprehend this.

"You. Want me. To help you and your team. Take back Chicago".

"Pretty much, yes".

Barry grinned.

"HELL YEAH!" He yelled, high-fiving Impulse before diving into his wardrobe.

As he began changing into Robin, Impulse put his goggles back on before pulling out his phone and selecting Artemis's number.

As she answered, Impulse was greeted by the sound of ferocious fighting.

"HELLO?" Artemis yelled, trying to be heard over the noise.

"Artemis, this is Impulse. Good news: Robin has agreed to help us. We'll be back there pretty soon"

"WELL, YOU'D BETTER HURRY! I JUST HEARD THAT A GROUP OF THUGS ARE STORMING INTO THE UGOTECH LAB!"

"That's where my dad is!"

"THEN YOU'D BETTER GET OVER THERE FAST! ARTEMIS OUT!"

As she hung up, Barry stepped out of the closet, now fully dressed as Robin.

"Care for a lift?" Impulse asked.

"That would be good, thanks" Robin replied.

As Robin hopped onto Impulse's back, the two went racing off back to Chicago.

* * *

><p>For Derek Laverne, the day had mostly been going as if it had been any other.<p>

He had gone to work, worked on his projects with his team, had lunch, done some more work.

Except this time, however, he and his colleagues now found themselves being held at gunpoint but a large group of armed thugs.

As four of them held the scientists hostage, some of the others were busy looting the place for anything valuable, mainly some experimental alloys the scientists were conducting experiments with.

"Imagine what we could make with stuff like this" one of the thugs said as he and some of the other thugs unloaded the alloys into waiting cases.

They thought they were going to be fine.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

As they unloaded the last of the metals, the lights suddenly went out, with only a thin amount of light from outside illuminating the room.

This caught the thugs off guard.

"W-what happened?"

"Must have been a power cut".

"The lights will probably come back on in a minute".

Just then, however, they heard the sound of shuffling in the ventilation shaft right above their heads.

Derek, however, could tell exactly what was going on.

"Of course" he said to himself. "He went and got Robin"

Then, almost on cue, they heard the sound of a nearby grating clattering to the ground.

Whilst the scientists couldn't see much, they could just about make out a red-and-black clad figure, radially taking the thugs down.

Then, as the sounds of fighting stopped, the doors to the lab were suddenly kicked open by Impulse, who had left dozens of guards lying unconscious on his side as well.

"You lot had better get home" Robin said to them. "This place is turning into a battlefield"

As the scientists began to evacuate, Impulse rushed over to his dad

"Dad, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks. Just a bit shaken up"

He looked over at Robin.

"That is who I think it is, right?"

"It could be" Robin replied, recognising who it was. "Anyway, we'd better get moving. These thugs won't be going down without a fight"

With that, Robin hopped onto Impulse's back and sped off to begin clearing out other parts of the city.

* * *

><p>"Come on Amy, step up your game" Artemis thought to herself, taking down another thug with a trick arrow.<p>

Out of all the places in the city, it was actually the train station (much to Artemis's surprise) that was the most overrun with thugs.

Thankfully for her, she also had the assistance of a squad of police officers on her side.

Gradually, they had been able to whittle down the number of thugs, leaving just a few conscious stragglers in the locomotive yard.

As the police headed off to sort out the rest of the city, all she needed to do was pick them off before moving on to assist her teammates.

But at the same time, she felt a strange presence around her, as if someone was watching her every move.

Every time she'd thought someone was behind her, she'd spin round and aim her bow, only to find that there was no one there.

She felt like she was going crazy.

Eventually, she found the last few remaining thugs in a small goods van, easily taking them down with one net arrow.

Once she had done that, she sent a text message off to the others.

_Station clear. See U guys at City Hall._

She then quickly pocketed her phone.

"You seriously think that this is going to end well for you?" Asked a voice from behind.

In a split second, Artemis notched an arrow and span round to face where the voice had come from.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

Standing before her was a man, dressed in an all black jumpsuit with a hood, brandishing his own custom built bow, with a fully loaded quiver on his back.

He carried an all too familiar cold, calculating look on his face.

"Of all the people who could have turned up here today, it just had to be you"

A wry smirk appeared on the man's face.

"What do you expect? I'm a mercenary now and it just so happens that the Dark Mambas have called for my services"

"Would that happen to involve killing us, even your own kids?"

"Admittedly, the passing of you and Robert will be...painful. But at the end of the day, I'm just doing my job"

Amy clenched her fist in anger.

"All this time and you haven't changed one bit, you bastard"

"Neither have you, Amelia. Still as hotheaded as ever. You know, I kind of pity Robert, having to constantly put up with your crap".

It was this comment that made Artemis flip out, launching her arrow at her father, only to have him dodge out of the way.

Artemis and her father then swiftly engaged in hand to hand combat, rapidly trading blows with their bows.

Whilst Artemis was indeed attacking harder and faster than her father, it was harder for her to channel the anger she carried, giving her father a slight edge.

"You may be able to kill me, Nightwing and Robin, but you'll never kill Impulse and Wonder Girl. Hell, you kill me now and they'll be coming for you". Artemis rasped as she and her father locked bows.

"I'm counting on it".

_CRACK!_

Her father landed an almighty kick to the back of her left leg, knocking her off balance.

_W__HA__M!_

He then promptly threw her over his shoulder, causing her to come crashing down against the floor.

As Artemis tried to pick herself up, her father placed a foot on the back of her head, pushing her back down.

"It's over, Amy. The Dark Mambas will take this city and I will personally send you and your friends to the tenth level of hell" he rasped, notching an arrow.

He leaned down until he was right next to Artemis's ear.

"And there's nothing you can do"

Artemis replied by spitting in his face.

"You never learn"

He pulled back on the bow, ready to fire the arrow.

Artemis shut her eyes.

However, as this was happening, both of them had failed to notice the sound of footsteps closing in on their location.

And when they did eventually notice, it was too late for Amy's father to do anything.

_POPOPOPOPOPOPOPOP!_

As four figures suddenly appeared at the entrance of the goods van, they unleashed a flurry of pellets from paintball guns.

This caught Amy's father off guard as the pellets hit him in the back of the head and legs.

This then allowed Artemis to leap up, sweep her father off her feet and eventually land one rock hard punch to the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious.

Looking up at her rescuers, she discovered most of them to be teenagers, no older than she was, wearing protective masks and bulletproof vests, brandishing paintball guns.

Two of them then raised their masks.

James and Stuart.

"Looks like you could use a little help". Stuart said.

"Thanks, but shouldn't you guys be someplace safe?"

Stuart groaned.

"Are you kidding? Pretty much everyone has been saying to stay safe and let the heroes and the police sort this out and to wait until the military arrives. But we want to make a difference. we want to help".

Artemis smiled.

"In that case, that for the extra assistance. We'll be meeting with the others at City Hall, but I firstly need to sort out this guy here".

James turned to five of the other guys.

"You five, make sure this guy stays here. Everyone else, we're taking back City Hall"

As they stepped out of the goods van, Artemis was shocked at just how many others had turned up to help.

Thousands.

Just then, her phone went off.

Artemis answered it, holding it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

She was greeted by the sound of heavy gunfire.

"ARTEMIS, THIS IS ROBIN!" came a voice. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"Robin? How did you get my number?"

"IMPULSE GAVE IT TO ME! LISTEN, THE TWO OF US, WONDER GIRL AND THE POLICE ARE ALREADY AT CITY HALL, BUT WE'RE UNDER HEAVY FIRE FROM THE DARK MAMBAS! THEY'RE LITERALLY BLOCKADED THE ENTIRE AREA OUTSIDE, ALONG WITH A LARGE ARMOURED VAN!"

"What about Nightwing?"

"I'VE JUST CALLED HIM! HE TOLD US HE'LL BE HERE SOON ENOUGH!"

"Okay, I'll be over there right away. By the way, good news. I'll be bringing some assistance with me"

"SWEET! WE'LL NEED ALL THE ASSISTANCE WE CAN GET UNTIL THE MILITARY TURNS UP! ROBIN OUT!"

He hung up.

"Alright you guys, the others need our help! Let's do this!" Artemis yelled to the others, pocketing her phone.

* * *

><p>The Boss felt like his entire world was slowly starting to collapse on him.<p>

He sat in the mayor's seat in city hall in deep thought, listening to the intense sound of gunfire from outside.

He had expected that the heroes would be trying to stop them, but he hadn't expected them to be ready for it.

It was almost as if someone had told them.

But what made it worse was that Leighton had already fled the scene.

Just then, the phone rang.

This caught him off guard.

Cautiously, it answered it.

"Hello?"

"Well, it appears everything has now come full circle, hasn't it?"

He recognized the voice instantly.

"Deathstroke?"

"You know, I probably could be out there right now. But I'm not. Why? Because those heroes are just what the world needs to get rid of scumbags like yourself. I know as an assassin I shouldn't be saying that, but its the truth. But what really caused me to rail against you was when I discovered just who two of them where".

"What?! Who are they? TELL ME!"

"It won't matter. They won't believe you, anyways. But the final nail in the coffin was when you hired their bastard father to take them down".

He then realised just who Deathstroke was talking about.

"Bastard father?! YOU WORKED WITH HIM!"

"And now I see how stupid I was back then. No matter what happens in Chicago, they will take you down and when they do, I'll be coming for you".

"Oh, I'm far from done. Leighton may be gone, but he left me under the command of Atlantis and Krypton".

"And they'll probably find a way to free them. It doesn't matter. In all instances, you'll always lose. See you in hell".

_*Click*_

* * *

><p>Out on the battlefield, the heroes and the cops were slowly whittling down the thugs.<p>

They all wanted to get closer to them, but they were unable to because 1) City Hall was blockaded by dozens of cars and 2) Pretty much every thug was armed.

However, as they fought on, the thugs were suddenly greeted by a volley of paintball pellets and trick arrows.

As everyone looked on, Artemis and the army of paintball wielding teenagers arrived on the scene.

"Wow. When you said you were bringing reinforcements, you weren't kidding" Robin said, dropping down next to Artemis. "Nice to meet you, by the way" he added, shaking her hand between arrow shots.

"Likewise. So, where's Nightwing?"

The group was greeted by the roar of a V10 as the batmobile came screeching onto the scene, with Nightwing at the wheel.

"There he is!"

With the team now fully assembled, the number of conscious thugs began to fall faster.

Then, Wonder Girl was able to break through the barrier, allowing the others to file through.

However, as they did so, they heard a loud clang from the armoured van.

This was then followed by a series of loud clangs.

The heroes then realised just what was hiding in that van as suddenly the doors at the back came flying off.

Two figures then stepped out of the back.

The first was a young African-American male, with short white hair and slits on his either side of neck, dressed in a red jumpsuit with what appeared to be sword hilts on his back.

The second was a young white male with short black hair, dressed in an all black jumpsuit.

Both had mind control collars, similar to the one Wonder Girl had when Impulse and Artemis found her.

Atlantis and Krypton.

The two stared down the five heroes.

"So, that's them then" Nightwing said to the others.

"It would appear that way".

Both sides stared each other down, waiting to see which would make the first move.

Robin looked over at Wonder Girl.

"What are you thinking?"

"If I know super villains, there should be an obvious way to shut down those collars." She replied.

She had an idea.

She then yelled out one word.

"POSEIDON!"

Nothing happened.

She tried another word.

"MANTA!"

Suddenly, Atlantis fell to the floor.

She'd shut the collar off.

"Huh. That was easy".

This then set off Krypton.

He charged directly towards the heroes in a blur of black.

However, before he could strike, Impulse intercepted him, winding him.

As the two engaged in lightning fast hand to hand combat, the others went over to Altantis as he started to come round, with Wonder Girl tearing off his collar.

"Are you alright?" Robin asked him.

"Urgh. Wh-Where am I?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"You're in Chicago. We just freed you from Maxicorp's control".

He instantly leaped up at the mention of Maxicorp.

"Leighton! That swine! Where is he?"

"We don't know, but it's safe to say he may be in City Hall. Besides, if its Leighton you're after, then perhaps we can help each other out".

"Gladly".

The group of five then proceeded to dive into the combat, with Atlantis forming a fighting staff out of the two hilts on his back and water particles in the air.

"So, you got a name?" Nightwing asked as they began taking on

"The name's Malcolm Haley. I hail from Huntington Beach in California."

"Ah, well in that case, greetings, Malcolm. I'm-"

"I know who you are. You're Nightwing".

"You read comics too?"

"Only casually, yes".

"Ah. You know, those are some sweet powers you may have there. Ever considered joining the superhero field of work? I'm planning on setting up a team at some point".

"You know, after today, that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Very well then...Aqualad".

Just then, there was a bright flash of red from behind.

"HOLY CRAP! HE ALSO HAS HEAT VISION!" came a yell from Impulse.

"Need a hand?" Asked Wonder Girl.

"No, I'll be fine thanks" Impulse replied, still trying to fend off Krypton. "You guys just go and finish this battle!"

As the group slowly began to encircle City Hall, Impulse began to weigh up his chances for success.

He had super speed.

Krypton had that, heat vision and super strength.

Overall, his chances weren't looking too good.

Worse still, if Impulse lost, Krypton could do some serious damage.

His best option would be to find a way to get Krypton away from everyone. Then, he would have to disarm that collar.

But how?

Impulse then had a brainwave.

It was risky. It was dangerous.

But there wasn't much in the way of choice.

Impulse would attempt an infinite mass punch.

He poked Krypton on the nose.

"Tag! You're it!" He declared, bolting towards Lake Michigan at hyper sonic speed, with Krypton giving pursuit.

As the two of them sprinted over the water, Impulse was anxious to keep as far ahead as possible for this to work.

Upon arriving on the opposite side of the lake, somewhere in Michigan, the speedster immediately span round and began bolting straight back towards Krypton.

This time, he was travelling faster than ever before.

he was already used to travelling at hypersonic speed, but this was something different.

This time, everything seemed to blur into one.

All sounds seemed to disappear.

He was travelling at more than hypersonic.

And he was rapidly getting faster.

Krypton was getting rapidly closer.

Faster.

Impulse readied himself.

Faster!

He readied a fist to land the blow.

FASTER!

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed.

As the two met, he landed the punch.

And everything went black.

* * *

><p>To say that this had been a strange day for Artemis would be an understatement.<p>

She had had been shot at and had the crap beaten out of her by her father.

But one thing she certainly hadn't expected was to witness a giant earth shaking explosion coming from over Lake Michigan.

As the heroes, the police and the army of civilians fought their way through the remaining Dark Mamba thugs, Artemis and the other heroes looked through to window at the giant pillar of light emitting from the lake.

As it began to fade, Artemis realised with horror just what had happened.

"Oh god. Impulse".

Without thinking twice, Artemis scrabbled out of the window and proceeded to bolt down the street towards the lake, with Robin, Wonder Girl and the newly christened Aqualad taking off after her, leaving Nightwing as the only hero in city hall, alongside the police.

As they battled on, they eventually reached the mayor's office barricaded with furniture on both sides.

The group pulled down the barricade on their side before trying to break through the door.

_SLAM!_

_SLAM!  
><em>

_SLAM!_

_SLAM!_

_SLAM!_

_CRUNCH!_

They finally managed to break through the barricade on the other side, allowing them to enter the mayor's office.

As Nightwing entered, he immediately caught eyes with "The boss"

The Boss's first reaction was to pull out a gun from under his desk.

Nightwing simply flicked this away with a Wing Ding.

"Now, the more you resist, the more this is going to hurt, so feel free to go crazy" He replied, as he and the others began filing into the room.

* * *

><p>As the other heroes reached the lakefront, Artemis dumped her equipment nearby, preparing to dive into the lake to find Impulse.<p>

"Artemis, wait! We don't know where Impulse is on that lake! If you go out there, you could drown!"

"I don't care!" Replied, a really concerned Artemis. "Impulse needs us! Now more than ever!"

"Hold up! I'm detecting something coming towards us at high speed!" Atlantis said to them.

As they looked out over the lake, they spotted large splashes of water, rapidly getting closer to them.

They watched, desperately hoping that it was Impulse.

However, when the splashes eventually reached the shore, they discovered that it was Krypton, now free from Maxicorp control, carrying the unconscious body of Impulse.

As he placed it down, the other heroes rushed over to them.

"His vitals signs are growing weaker." Krypton explained to them. "Plus, his lungs have been completely filled with water."

"I'm on it" Aqualad said to them, focusing his powers, eventually causing a long pillar of water to flow out of Impulse's mouth.

Once his lungs were clear, Artemis proceeded with the CPR, trying to keep Impulse's heart going for long enough.

"Krypton, I need you to go and get a black Lamborghini from outside City Hall!" she said to him, throwing him her keys. "There should be a set of jump leads in the boot!"

"On it!" Krypton replied, bolting off.

"Come on, Impulse, stay with us!"

As Artemis gave Impulse two quick rescue breaths, the others watched on, hoping that their friend would pull through.

As they continued, they were eventually greeted by the sound of the Lamborghini pulling up next to them.

As Artemis pulled off Impulse's jumpsuit, Krypton readied the jump leads.

"CLEAR!"

Artemis put both the leads against Impulse's chest, sending a shock through his body, causing it to jolt.

"His pulse is dropping!" Robin said, pressing two fingers against the side of his neck.

"CLEAR!"

Jolt.

Still no improvement.

"CLEAR!"

Jolt.

Still no improvement.

Artemis's eyes were now streaming with tears, desperate to get her boyfriend back onto his feet.

"CLEAR!"

Jolt.

Robin checked his pulse again.

But this time, he gave a sigh of relief.

"Good news". He said to the others. "His pulse is back to normal".

As a sense of relief washed over them, Artemis wiped her tears away.

"Don't worry, Artemis" Wonder Girl said to her, reassuringly. "We've done all we can. All we need to do now is wait for him to wake up".

"That won't be too long them" Replied a voice.

As the group looked down, Impulse was already sitting up.

"I heal real fast" he explained.

He soon found himself suddenly engulfed by a massive hug from Artemis.

"I thought we'd lose you!" She cried, tears running down her face and Impulse's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm alive. Just about".

The two broke the hug, with Impulse wiping away Artemis's tears.

"You okay now?"

She nodded.

"I am now".

"That's good to-mmmmph!"

Impulse was cut off when Artemis shut her eyes and delivered a long kiss to his lips.

he then just shut his eyes and went with it, returning the kiss.

"Wait, since when were those two a couple?" Robin asked, confused.

"Since a few weeks ago" Wonder Girl replied.

The group were then greeted by the sound of running footsteps.

Looking over, they found Nightwing running onto the scene.

"Good news!" he said happily to them. "We've taken City Hall and the military has finally arrived to take the boss of the Dark mambas in".

They all cheered, high fiving each other.

"Wait, it took the military that long to get here?" Asked Wonder Girl.

"Well, according to one of the guys I asked, they said that their commanding officer originally wasn't going to mobilize the forces at all, believing that we'd have everything sorted. He changed his mind when he saw that massive explosion".

"Tell him that his commanding officer is an idiot" Impulse replied, picking himself up and pulling his jumpsuit back on. "By the way, please don't tell my dad that I nearly died here".

Everyone agreed to that.

"So, I guess this is goodbye" Robin said to the others.

"For now, maybe" Krypton replied. "But I doubt this will be the last time we'll come together like this".

"I agree." Aqualad added. "The way I see it, more and more threats will come along that most others would be unable to handle".

"But as long as we're here, we'll always be able to take them down". Nightwing added.

"What are you implying?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nightwing scratched the back of his head.

"Well you see, the thing is...I actually kind of enjoyed working alongside you guys. Clichéd as it may sound, it made me feel like I was part of something bigger and, to be honest, I kind of want to feel like that more often. what I'm trying to say is...I kind of want to start a team with you guys"

Now the others (asides from Aqualad, who wasn't particularly surprised at this) raised an eyebrow.

"Aqualad's right. More and more threats like this will come along. we may be able to take them down if it's just a couple of us. But if it's the seven of us, it will allow us to be something greater".

He put his hand out in front of them, palm facing downwards.

"So what do you think?"

Instantly, Artemis did the same, followed by Impulse and Wonder Girl.

Aqualad soon followed suit.

"I don't know" Robin said to them, apprehensively. "I like the sound of starting a team with you guys, but it's going to be difficult if you guys are here in Chicago and I'm over in Pittsburgh".

"There's always a way around that" Aqualad replied.

"There should be eventually" Impulse added. "My dad and his team are experimenting with zeta tube technology".

Robin shrugged.

"Oh, very well then" he said, placing his hand out in front of him, joining in with the others.

Everyone now looked over at Krypton.

"So, you in Krypton?" Nightwing asked him.

He thought long and hard about this. Deep down, he knew he could easily annihilate all six of them. But at the same time, he knew that Maxicorp could easily develop a way to take him down. Besides, these six really cared for those close to them, as he'd seen with Artemis and Impulse.

He grinned, putting out his hand as well before replying three words.

"Call me Superboy".

* * *

><p><strong>The story continues in Young Justice Re-imagined: The Series.<strong>

**Episode 1: In the Beginning...**

**The Team sets up their base of operations.**

**A new threat begins to appear and a new hero emerges.**


End file.
